I'm Keeping You
by little red cardigan
Summary: When she comes spiraling into his life, he finds himself drawing closer to her, wanting more. Once he's latched on, he won't be letting go anytime soon.
1. Meet Me

**Disclaimer: **Alright, let's get this over with. I don't own any of the good looking guys from the Covenant, though I kind of wish I had... I only own my two OC's, and maybe other OC's in future chapters.

A/N: I loved the movie and I got inspired when I watched it the third time (I seem to do that with a lot of my favorite movies), and I decided to pay my tribute to the movie.

* * *

"Here he comes."

"Kat, shut up."

"How can you _not_ be into him?" Katherine sighed, leaning fully back against the large, oak tree. "He's hot."

Maddie grinned, her eyes looking up from her notes. Curiously, she let her eyes rake over the distant boy's form. "I never said I wasn't into him."

"So, you do like him?" Katherine perked up, hazel eyes brightening.

"I never said that either."

"You are so frustrating, you know that? If I had known you'd be this ridiculous, I would have never befriended you in the first place."

"Yeah, but then you would have been deprived of such a fabulous friend," Maddie laughed when Katherine made a long face that begged to differ.

Maddie had only just moved here to Massachusetts a couple weeks before the start of a new school year. Her loving parents were curious scientist who had just agreed to travel around the world to study life. Although she adored her mother and father, Maddie was unwilling to give up her education to that kind of life. As her parents prepared their new trip, she had received a scholarship to the elite school of Spenser Academy. She had accepted the invitation to move here in a heartbeat. Anything to get away from her hometown was fine with her.

On the day she registered in to receive her assigned dorm room, she had the delight in meeting Katherine Fitzgerald, her new roommate. The two girls hit it off instantly. Part of why that happened was because Katherine's personality was so much like hers. Bu the end of the week, the girls were inseparable, stuck to each other like glue. From then on, there was no Katherine without Maddie, or no Maddie without Katherine.

"You really don't like him?"

"I'm not answering that," Maddie replied, scribbling neatly onto her notes.

The subject of their conversation was none other than the infamous Reid Garwin.

Across the shady field in which Maddie and Katherine were currently sitting in, the blonde haired boy sat in the quad of the campus, surrounded by a gaggle of giggling girls. Known as the resident bad boy of Spenser Academy, he was considered the most rebellious of his group, the Sons of Ipswich. The other three sons were Caleb Danvers, Pouge Parry, and Tyler Simms—all four boys wanted by the girls of this school, which was pretty much no surprise there.

Garwin sat, flirting shamelessly with the girls around him. Of the Sons of Ipswich, he was quite well-known for his not-so-implicit paramours or his notion of one night stands. He used those girls as much as they used him in return. In the end, all that was left was a good story to tell of how great sex was.

Since Maddie was a newcomer to their community, she was the last to here about these Sons. She's heard about the legends of how those four families were derived from witches and magic, or something like that. Unlike other girls, she didn't ponder too much on it. It was hard to believe that those boys came from magical families, when she didn't think magic existed at all.

"Are they always surrounded like that?" Maddie asked dryly, when the three other Sons joined Garwin in the middle of the quad, Soon after, even more girls than before seem magnetized to the boys.

Katherine nodded in affirmation. "Always. Those girls are idiots."

There wasn't a tone of jealously in her friend's voice, but Maddie still wondered. "Why?"

"Because they all know that Pogue Parry is already taken. He's been dating Kate Tunney since sophomore year. And they know there's no chance with Caleb. It's like he's not even interested in girls at all. Did you hear about the new transfer girl?"

"Who's she?"

"My God, don't you hear the gossip around you, Maddie? How can you miss this stuff?" Katherine asked incredulously as Maddie grinned sheepishly. "The girl that transferred a couple days ago is Sarah Wenham. I think she came here from Boston Republic."

"Sarah Wenham?" Maddie tapped her nimble fingers to her chin, eyes clouded in thought. "Wenham…oh, she's that new blonde girl, isn't she?"

"Is that how you know her as? _The blonde girl?"_ Katherine asked patronizingly.

Maddie ignored her last statement. "I have Home Economics with Sarah."

"She's a nice girl," Katherine responded. A moment later, her face scrunched up in disgust. "Ugh. Abbot's staring at you again."

The other girl looked up from her notebook, yet again, and followed Katherine's gaze. Not too far away, a tall, curly-haired boy was eyeing hungrily and directly at her. He wore the school's letterman jacket, so it was safe to assume that he either played football of some other sport. A smug smile was stretched on his face as he was with his group of friends. Even though that Kira girl was latched onto his arm, he nodded in a cocky manner and winked when Maddie was looking his way.

"That's disgusting," she muttered, grabbing around for her things.

"Tell me about it," Katherine shot Aaron Abbot a death-worthy glare. "Can you blame him though? You are rather desirable."

"Is this the moment of truth, Kat? Are you finally admitting those feelings you've had for me since the first time you saw me?"

Katherine took a swat at her. "You're sick."

"Sick enough to see a doctor?"

"Sick enough to see damn psychiatrist."

"I'm not crazy," Maddie defended for herself.

The two girls straightened their skirts when they got up, brushing any grass pieces that had stuck onto their uniform in any conspicuous way. Their next class didn't start for another ten minutes, so they walked leisurely through the tightly pact crowd that nearly encamped themselves in the crowd. It was almost suffocating, and Maddie hadn't really wanted to take that path, but that was the only way to reach their lockers.

"Hey, Maddie! Katherine!"

A boy with brunette colored hair was jogging up towards them, a slight flush on his cheeks indicating that he had apparently been jogging the entire time. He was a cute boy, with very cute dimples. Maddie had seen him before. He was one of the popular kids amongst this school. It was too bad neither of them (okay, Katherine, in this case) had class with this boy.

"Hi, Justin," Maddie smiled, followed by another smile coming from Katherine.

"Hey," he repeated, his cheeks flushing not from the warm heat, but by the two pretty girls in front of him. He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I'm, uh, throwing a bonfire party down at the cliffs this Friday. You girls wanna come?"

Maddie looked to Katherine. "Are we doing anything Friday?"

"Friday?" Katherine cocked her head to the side. Well, the girls had been planning on going on a shopping spree in the outlet mall, but judging by the mischievous glint in Maddie's eyes, both of them could be flexible on their plans. "No, we're not busy," she nodded at Justin. "Sure, we can go."

"Alright," he grinned, flashing an earnest smile. "Thanks. I'll see you girls there."

"See you there," Maddie waved at his retreating figure.

When the word 'bonfire' was mentioned, Maddie could picture kids singing songs and roasting marshmallows around the fire. Maybe that was because she came from a small hometown. The bonfire Justin was throwing probably had spiked drinks and kegs littered all over the place, and that served as no surprise. After all, this was a teenage party, and some teenagers practically needed alcohol like bees needed honey. Maddie was not a drinker whatsoever, and she would ignore the looks she got when she refused a bottle of beer.

"Bonfire at the cliffs," Katherine tittered when the reached their lockers. She opened it, grabbing her books for her next class. "It's basically an empty campsite."

"What's wrong with that?"

"The cops are going to show up halfway through the party."

"Is it illegal to have a party there?" Maddie peered into her locker.

"Sort of. One teen died at a cliff party a couple years ago. The teen's parents were such a nuisance, the city had no choice but to ban the cliffs as a setting for a party. And yet, here we are, doing it anyway."

Maddie wiggled her eyebrows. "Rebels without a cause."

She stuffed her books in her bag, set to going to her next class. By now, the school bell already rang, and the hallway was littered with noisy students. She looked back to see Katherine tagging along behind her, since they had the next class together: History. For some reason, the subject of History was mandatory for all four years of high school, in the state of Massachusetts, not to mention the small town or county of Ipswich.

"Maddie, watch out!" she heard Katherine's urgent call behind her.

"Huh? What are you—_oof!_" Maddie's surprised noise was muffled when she slammed into something solid, and not to mention painfully hard. The books she was holding scattered onto the floor. "I'm sorry," she apologized, not really looking at who the person she bumped into was. She bent down to pick up her books.

"I got it," a deep voice told her, as the person bent down instead.

She knew that voice. Sort of. Maddie bit back a sigh. Of course it would be Reid Garwin of all people.

Maddie looked over to the girl that had been hanging onto the boy's arm. "Hi," she said to the unnamed, unfamiliar, brown-haired girl.

"Hello," the girl smiled awkwardly.

Reid stooped down to pick up the other person's books. Just because he was the 'bad boy' doesn't mean he was particularly that way all the time. As he gathered the books together, he noticed the class this person was having next. It was History. He had that class next. When the books were in his hands, he stood straighter and preceded to hand the books to the other person.

"Here you…" Reid's voice faltered when he saw a swish of black hair, and the sweet smell of honey and apples that had come drifting across his nose. He found himself staring into a pair of eyes that wasn't exactly blue, or green, or brown, but _gold_. It was pure gold, like butterscotch.

Maddie turned her head slightly, the corner of her eyes catching view of what her best friend was looking like. Katherine had an expression that was mixed with shock and amusement, all in one. The brown haired girl that had been hanging off of Reid's arm was silently staring at the boy, wondering why he was all of the sudden so quiet and just standing there. On the other hand, Reid stood there, wordlessly gawking at the girl in front of him.

"Can I have my books back?" she asked when the silence was too much for her. When Reid still remained quiet, her hands carefully took the books away from his arms. She sent him a small smile. "Thanks."

Reid swore his heart did backflips when she smiled at him. _This can't be happening._

She was about to ask him if he was alright, knowing that if Reid Garwin was silent for more than a five minutes, something was obviously wrong. As she opened her mouth to ask him, Maddie felt slight pressure in her arms, suddenly feeling Katherine's nails digging into her forearm. Holding her books with one arm, and being dragged hurriedly by another, she struggled to wave or even say good-bye to Reid or that brown haired girl without resisting the urge to yelp in the process— Katherine's nails were pretty sharp.

Reid watched as she was dragged away, his throat becoming oddly dry. He ignored the consistent tugging on his arm as Jessica (or was it Jane?) tried to pull him. The brunette smiled seductively at him, and for once, he didn't feel anything for it. He didn't react to it as he was used to doing. Without really thinking, he pushed her off and started walking to his locker alone, leaving the girl offended in all means.

"What the_ hell_ was that?"

The blonde haired boy turned to the voice of Pogue and instantly groaned. All three Sons were leaning near his locker, identical smirks on their smug faces. When you have bothersome friends like them, it's hard to keep them out of your life, whether you want them in it or not. Considering what he was feeling right now, all Reid wanted to do was ram his head into a wall. That, or scratch those smirks off their faces.

"Seriously, Reid, what happened there?" Tyler grinned, moving away so that Reid could open his locker. "You were standing there, staring at her like an idiot," he chuckled when the blonde grumbled incoherently.

"Who is she?" Reid asked, wanting, no—_needing_ to know her.

"Now you want to know?" Caleb shook his head in amusement. "You could have asked her, but you chose instead to gawk at her," he merely smiled at the glare Reid sent him. "Maddie's been in our History class since the beginning of the year."

Reid froze. He turned to Caleb. "You know her _name?_"

Caleb chuckled, leaning against the row of lockers. "Yeah. I also sit right next to her."

In the classroom, Katherine stood in front of her desk, glaring consistently as the other girl plopped herself down to the chair, taking out her notebook and other needed supplies. The girl narrowed her hazel eyes at Maddie, demanding an explanation without really saying anything. She crossed her arms at her chest, tapping her foot against the floor loudly, since she knew that Maddie hated that sound, and she waited.

"What?" Maddie asked, annoyed when the tapping had gone on for more than a minute.

"I thought you said you didn't like him."

"I don't like him."

"Then tell me what had happened earlier," Katherine ordered firmly. "So you bump into him and you drop your books everywhere and while he's picking up your books, you say hi to that whore he was holding onto—weirdo— and then he doesn't say anything when he looks at you. How is that?"

"I don't know. You know him better than I do. I'm new to this school, remember? Does Garwin always stare at girls like that and doesn't speak at all?"

Katherine shook her head earnestly. "No, when he comes across a new girl he starts flirting with her. He doesn't stare at her like he did to you."

"You think I scared him?" Maddie asked, her head tilting to the side.

"Scared him speechless," Katherine laughed at the thought.

In that moment, the Sons of Ipswich came barging in, ceasing their conversation. With a wink and a knowing look, Katherine left Maddie to go to her own seat. The History class was like a small auditorium: the seats arranged to look as though you were in a theater. There were long benches of seats that kept ascending with each step. The school was way fancier than Maddie's old school, and she was actually grateful to be here.

She noticed Reid standing off to the side, his eyes scanning over the rows of seats. Although she would never admit this out loud, she had to admit that he was good-looking. _Really_ good-looking. He wasn't one of those guys that were totally ripped with bulging muscles, but his build indicated that his muscles were there and they were definitely define. He was tall, maybe a foot taller than her or something. When she had bumped into him, she had to crane her neck to look at his face. It was a handsome face— a certain paleness that could match her own skin tone, and bright blue eyes that seemed to sparkle on its own.

The blonde haired boy cocked his head, blue eyes training over the rows until he stopped. It took Maddie a while to figure out that he was staring at her. Again. She crossed her ankles beneath her desk and leaned forward, meeting his gaze without shrinking back. She lifted a hand at him and gave a short wave, smile donned on her face.

Reid widened his eyes slightly, but he smiled back. He didn't expect another smile from her, and that just caused more complications with his nerves. What the hell was wrong with him? If he had been himself, he would have been next to her, flirting with her until he secured a date with her. But here he was, standing in the side of the room, probably looking like the same idiot he had been out in the hall. He dared himself another look at her before he followed Tyler to their usual seats.

_Maybe I did scare him,_ Maddie thought as she furrowed her brows. She had never scared a boy like that before, and wondered whether that was a good or bad thing.

"Hey, Maddie." She looked up to see Caleb Danvers looking down at her, grinning widely.

"Hi," she murmured quite listlessly, since she was pent up over the 'Reid thing'. "I'm going to ask you something, Caleb," she stated bluntly.

Caleb smiled at the notion. "Go ahead."

"Is your friend okay?"

"What? Reid?" Caleb's eyes flickered towards his friend in quiet amusement, his dark eyes glinting. When she nodded, he continued. "You just caught him by surprise."

Maddie tapped her nose with the tip of her pencil. "What did I do to surprise him?"

"He's just never seen you before."

She wanted to disagree, considering they've been having the same History class together for three whole weeks, but she didn't say anything. She let her eyes flow back to Reid's form, who was currently straining his eyes on the large and thick textbook in front of him. The blonde boy, feeling her gaze on him, turned his head to the side, gravitating to her direction. He looked at her for a slight millisecond before turning his attention back to the book.

She heard a chuckle besides her. "He's actually reading his textbook," the dark haired boy continued laughing.

"You're saying he's never read it before?" she asked, joining in his laughter.

"Nah. He never opens that book." _Or any other book. _

"And here I thought I scared him pretty badly," she grinned, although she did felt bad if she had indeed 'scared' Reid Garwin. "Can you tell him I'm sorry?"

"Sure thing. Hey, what was your answer for the last question…?"

Rows and seats away, Reid glared heavily at his book. It was surreal, even for him, to actually be reading crap from the History book, particularly about the Bill of Rights. He was feeling tense—each page being turned by his hand could guarantee a tear from that book. He was also stiff and even feeling so straight-laced was making him annoyed. More than twice he had craned his neck to see her, to observe her features, her structure. It was insane. He barely knew this Maddie girl. He was never one for jealously, but seeing her talking and laughing with Caleb made something snap inside of him.

He wanted to throw something.

Maybe even use.

"You're staring again," Tyler noted, unable to hide the smirking glee in his voice.

Reid ignored the statement. "Is 'Maddie' really her name? Or is Caleb messing with me?"

"Yeah, 'Maddie' is her real name," Tyler chuckled at how agitated his best friend was feeling. "Madeline Bennett. She moved here from Texas during the summer."

"How do you even know this?"

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Because I talked to her, idiot."

He talked to her? Sweet, shy, quiet _Tyler_ had talked to her beyond Reid's knowledge?

"Is she going to Davis' party?"

"You're going to have to find out when you get there."

It was no doubt that the Sons of Ipswich would be invited to any party of the sort, and Justin Davis' party at the cliffs for that matter. If they weren't there, then most likely, everyone else that had been invited wouldn't be there as well. The four boys drew people in with effect, not even bothering to try at all. If the small town of Ipswich had any celebrities, the Sons would be it. Everyone knew of them, and not just high school students. People surrounded them because they adored them, they wanted to be a part of their exclusive group, and they wanted to _be_ them.

He didn't know how she was so attractive to him, in such a short time.

Madeline Bennett had none of that gamey appeal that Reid was used to seeing. She didn't have a big bust, didn't wear clothes that were ten times too tight, no fake tan, and there wasn't even a trace of make up on her delicate face. She didn't have the air that was too seductive or a sultry figure. She didn't dress with clothing that were low-cut, or skirts that barely covered the panties underneath. She wasn't a slut. She wasn't too eager. And she wasn't looking at him to get laid.

No, she was the exact opposite. She had a body that was too slender; a body models and anorexic girls would literally die for. Her body resembled a twig, one that walked. She looked as though she only weighed ten pounds, and though her tiny body was very apparent, the smallest of curves could be seen, blending in with her form. She had pale skin, a skin that would be impossible to get a tan on, even if she was out in the sun the whole day. Her rare, golden eyes were surrounded by long, dark lashes that created shadows against her fair complexion. Her bangs swept to the side, almost brushing the top of her eyelids, and her black hair fell softly to her waist.

_Beautiful, _was the only thing he thought when he looked at her. He didn't think she was beautiful because he was just saying that just to sleep with her, or he wasn't saying that because he was drunk. For once, and he could honestly say this without denying it, he thought she was beautiful because she simply was.

* * *

The air was thick with heat as teens and partygoers grinded with their dance partners, the proximity of their bodies extremely close, and the flush on their cheeks tingeing with pink. It was late at night on that Friday and the coldness was beginning to peek in. Breath vapor the came out of people's mouths indicated that it was freezing, amidst the tight crowd, the sway of dancing bodies, and the warm, scorching liquor of alcohol that was continuing being passed around.

Maddie was currently lost. She had also lost track of wherever the hell Katherine was. To pass time, she had been asked by random guys to go out and dance. It was alright, despite the fact that some of them tried to feel her—for lack of better words—ass. By the next half hour, she was entirely pissed out of her mind and would probably deny dancing with anyone for the rest of the night.

"Maddie!" The pale girl turned her head to the side, spotting a blonde girl and a dark-skinned girl waving at her. "Come over here!"

She smiled, shoving her hands in the back pocket of her jeans. "Sarah," she bumped into the blonde girl intentionally and nudged her way between the two girls, producing a laugh from them. "That's better," she said when she was sandwiched between them. She looked at the dark-skinned girl, "Hi, Kate."

"Where's your other half?" Kate grinned, looking around. "I never see Katherine anywhere without you somewhere nearby."

Maddie made an impish noise. "She ditched me. I've been spending the last fifteen minutes looking for her."

"She'll show up soon," Sarah reassured. "Come on, you guys, tell me about some people. The only people I know are Katherine and you two."

Kate pointed to one girl that stood a few feet away, her chin pointed in the air and her red curls cascading down. Maddie instantly frowned at who she pointed. "That's Kira. She's a bitch," the dark-skinned girl plainly pointed out and then she pointed to the boy standing next to Kira. "And that's Aaron. One thing you need to know about him is that he's a prick and he treats girls like dirt."

Sarah nodded. "Got it."

Something in the atmosphere changed just then. It wasn't because she was really cold or anything like that, but Maddie couldn't help but feel small, involuntary shivers run up her spine. Her feeling this surely wasn't on her own accord.

"Who are they?" Sarah asked in a tone that could be described curious, though there was awe hidden beneath it.

Four silhouettes were making their way down the cliff, their steps matched in long strides. As soon as they stepped out of the darkness, they were instantly showered with greetings, hellos, smiles, and flirts. For some reason, the small group seemed to be headed towards the three girls.

"Sons of Ipswich," Kate answered, a blissful smile on her face. Her face turned ecstatic when she caught sight of long-haired Son, launching herself into his arms and kissing him sweetly. "You're late," she pouted.

"Sorry, I had a thing with the family," Pogue leaned in to kiss her again. When they parted for the second time, Pogue grinned at the girls. "Hey, Maddie," he inwardly chuckled, not resisting the urge to look over at Reid.

Reid didn't expect her to be here. He didn't think she was the kind of girl for these type of things, but nonetheless, he was kind of glad that she was here. Maddie looked awfully cold in what she was wearing. She was donned in dark, skin-hugging jeans that only showed out more of her thinness. A black, leather jacket covered over her blue tank top, which to no one surprise, did not show part of her cleavage, not even a hint of it. Her pale collarbone and her neck were the only parts of skin that was showing, but even so, she still looked good.

"Pogue," Maddie responded lightly, slinging an arm around Sarah's shoulders in a friendly manner. "Guys, this is Sarah," she paused to let the blonde girl wave at them.

Introductions were made all around and the seven of them lapsed into a comfortable conversation. Maddie took no part in it, straying off to the side, her eyes scanning the crowd for her missing best friend. If she couldn't find Katherine, how was she supposed to get back to the dorms? It wasn't as if she had brought a car here with her when she moved here.

"Looking for someone?" a quiet voice mused from beside her.

Maddie looked surprise when she looked at the person next to her. "Reid," she started, her tone calm. After the little incident, they had no other accidents in the hallway, nor had they interacted with each other. Of the four Sons, she was distant with him the most.

He nodded down at her before smiling. "Hi."

_Nice smile, _she heard herself think before she could stop herself.

"Did I scare you?" Another stupid blurt.

Reid tilted his head at her, his brows furrowing. "No. Why?"

"Well, I tried talking to you the other day in the hall, but all you did was stare at me. I was wondering if I did something wrong."

"Oh." One moment was filled with a strange silence, and the next moment, Reid was laughing. Maddie found herself oddly compelled to the sound of his laughter, feeling herself draw closer. "I just never noticed you before. Where were you from?"

"Texas," she grimaced at the name. "I hated that place."

"Why?"

"It was boring," she laughed when she noticed a wide grin spreading on the blonde boy's face. "Seriously, it was. Nothing ever happened there and if something did, it was the same stuff every time. I do like it here better."

"Are you thinking of staying here?"

"Yeah, for the rest of my senior year."

Wordlessly, Reid stuck out his hand, his blue eyes piercing through hers. "Reid Garwin."

Oh right, they haven't been properly introduced. After all, all she did was knock into him carelessly, causing him to pick up her books, and to have him stare at her as if she had grown another head.

"Maddie Bennett," she gave a smile, and shook his glove-covered hand. She noticed the slight tingling feeling when she touched him, but she didn't say anything. She couldn't help but wonder when his cocky side would kick in, the side she had seldom seen when he was with other girls.

"Aw, would you look at that," a hard tone cut through the air, the voice taunting. "Garwin's got himself a new slut that'll last him for the week."

Reid looked over the girl's head, his eyes turning stone cold. Who else had a sluggish, pathetic attempt at a deep tone other than Aaron Abbot? Yet, the blonde boy had managed to catch something in the intruder's voice. A taunt it was, but there was a certain longing laced hidden underneath that tone. When Abbot mentioned the word 'slut', Reid caught the other boy's voice wavering slightly. He also detected jealously, and it was all so apparent to Reid that Abbot secretly coveted for Maddie Bennett.

"Abbot," Reid responded, his voice low and calm.

Aaron smirked down at Maddie. "What are you doing here with him? Come with me, you should be with a _real_ man."

Maddie didn't try to hide the snort she was holding back. "Really? Tell me where this real man is because I don't see him anywhere," she grinned at Reid, causing both to laugh.

Aaron flushed angrily. "What are you laughing at?" he snapped, directing it towards Reid. He smelled distinctively of alcohol. The curly haired boy took a step closer. "Why aren't you screwing around with some whore?"

"You complain too much," Reid raised an eyebrow at the other boy. "Your mom didn't seem to mind when I did her."

Both Maddie and Aaron stood for a moment, shell-shocked at what Reid had just said. Was that really true? The golden-eyed girl peered at Reid curiously with a look of apprehension on her face, but then she saw a tiny, mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes. It was a lie. Now that she thought about it, what he said was actually a good lie.

"Fuck you," Aaron growled, striding even more closely.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Reid was too busy paying attention to Maddie to hear Aaron's snarl. The small girl was right between them, which was a vulnerable spot to be in for someone her size. With a raging Abbot on the other end, she could easily be a victim of his impending wrath, and she might suffer an off-aimed punch by the asshole.

Just when Aaron raised his hand and took an aim—and like Reid expected, it was an god-awful aim— Reid managed to pull Maddie safely behind him, having helped her evade an attack that would have struck her right on her face.

Seeing that he missed, Aaron took no hesitation in preparing for another aim. Reid had gripped his hand in a fist and clenched his jaw, nearly biting jaw muscles as he easily duck the latter's hand. After avoiding that, Reid quickly swung his hand back and threw a punch, his fist colliding roughly with Aaron's cheek. Reid smirked when he heard the satisfying sound of bones being broken as he drew hand back. Not letting time for Aaron to recoil at all, he packed a punch to the curly boy's midsection, causing Aaron to gasp and fall back. A trickle of blood ran down the corner of Aaron's mouth as his hands straddled his own stomach. A moment later, he passed out cold.

Reid glared down at him with abhor. If Aaron hadn't been drunk, he would have had a better fight with Reid. A wave of mocking disappointment flew over the blonde at how quick the fight was. At the same time, he felt alright with it, and he wouldn't have to look forward to seeing Aaron's face around him anytime soon.

"He's such a dick," Maddie said bluntly as she came to stare down at Aaron next to Reid. "You didn't really sleep with his mom, did you?" she asked, the corners of her lips tugging up an inch.

"Why would I sleep with someone who gave birth to _that_?" Reid wrinkled his nose loathsomely at Aaron.

Maddie laughed. "True."

"Hey, guys!" the music abruptly stopped, and Justin Davis had taken the speaker into his hands. "I just got a call from a friend nearby! He says the cops are coming; they're already on Oakland Road!"

The bonfire party erupted in complete pandemonium as teenagers struggled off the cliffs to get to their cars, to run away from the scene, plainly just to get away. The numerous fires along the ground had been put out by, not water, but by alcohol beverages since they had no other option. The lights and speakers were taken down, and where it had been so bright was now so dark.

"Need a ride?" Reid asked her. Aaron had taken up most of their time, and the two didn't get to talk much.

"That's okay. Katherine's probably waiting for me at her car," she supplied, tripping over a root. Luckily, she didn't fall flat on her face. If the lights had been on, she would have been embarrassed.

Reid smiled at her in the dark, even when she couldn't well see it. "Sure?"

"I'm sure. See you at school?" she asked, and Reid nodded in response, although that seemed like a pretty stupid thing to do, so he made a noise in approval. "Oh, and by the way, don't be afraid to talk to me, all right?" she added with a teasing tone.

"Okay," Reid couldn't hide his laugh. On impulse, he reached over and mussed up her hair. "See you, Maddie."

Maddie grinned, fixing her hair, but liking the way he touched her like that. "Bye, Reid."

He could feel her walking away in the distance, noticing the breeze that replaced the warmth he had felt at his side when she was there a moment ago. Off to the side, he could hear her voice berating someone, and he could hear another voice retorting something back. She was probably with her friend, Katherine, right now. He shoved his hands into his pockets, whistling tunelessly in the night as he made his way back to Tyler's Hummer. Their conversation had been short, but it was definitely a start.

Reid wanted her.

He didn't want just her body.

He wanted _her_.


	2. Nurture Me

Maddie stumbled on her way to her locker.

To have students crowding around the hallway only made it worse in her condition. Her head was spinning dizzily, and not in the good way either. She didn't remember drinking any alcoholic beverage last Friday. She didn't even come close to touching one. Her headaches were unexplainable. And if things couldn't get _any_ better, she erupted in a sneeze ever five freaking minutes. Before leaving her dorm, she grabbed a handful of tissues, hoping it would last for the day. Seeing as she went through those tissues in only a short matter of time, she had to come back to take the whole entire box.

After she retrieved her books for her first class, she slammed her locker half-heartedly, completely under a dizzy spell that was beyond her control. She eyed the row of lockers in front of her with interest, considering the idea of maybe leaning against them for a little while, only so that she could take a nice nap. She sighed, turning her head, only to yelp in surprise.

"Jesus!" she gasped, clutching her books for dear life as Reid smirked at her. "Give me a heart attack why don't you?" she grumbled sarcastically.

"Someone's in a bad mood." The smirk widened.

"I'm tired," was a curt response. Considering that they weren't exactly on speaking terms a week before was a huge contrast to the way they were talking to each other now.

Reid chuckled. "I figured," he added, not attempting to hide his newfound glee at the glare she shot him. As sick as she was, she was still pretty adorable. "You don't look so good."

"Thank you, Reid," she would have sounded much better if it hadn't been for a sneeze getting in the way. She sniffed, covering her nose with a white tissue. "I bet that's what every girl wants to hear," her voice was muffled because of her stuffy nose.

He bit back another laugh but it came out as a snort.

Maddie shot him another look. "Shut up, Garwin."

"Back to the surnames, huh?" he looked at her inquiringly. "Kinky."

"We didn't actually speak at all before, _Reid_."

"You don't have to remind me, _Madeline_."

She made a small, infuriated noise within it, something between a growl and a snarl. A gnarl. She sniffed again, before turning on her heel, walking away. Almost instantly, she could hear his footsteps behind her, and all of the sudden, he was besides her, matching her pace.

"Did I scare you?"

Maddie's head snapped up to his, meeting his gaze. She slumped at his grin. "Very smart, Reid. Using my own words against me—good tactic."

He shrugged carelessly. "I try."

She opened her book, reading the text she was supposed to have read over the weekend. All her homework would have been done ages ago, if she didn't spend all her time passed out on her bed. She's been to parties before, and she didn't know why she reacted the way she did. She barely acknowledged the way Katherine tried to feed her the daily meals, since she slept for the better part of the day. She didn't realize she was sick.

Stupid flu season.

Just then, she shivered, the feeling coming from out of nowhere. All this feeling was new to her. She had never been sick before, nor did she ever try to do so. She now understood why people were always so moody when they were sick. She hoped Reid wouldn't notice.

He did anyway. "You cold?" he asked with mild concern. It sounded genuine, even to her sick ears and her sick form, his voice caused a new sensation to rile up inside her.

"No."

"I could make you warm," he whispered, leaning in close, his lips barely brushing past the shell of her ear.

Maddie jolted slightly at the feeling, causing the paper from the book beneath her grasp to slice a deep cut along her index finger. She winced at the prickling pain, staring at the thin line of blood that came oozing from the wound.

He frowned in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied, her voice stubborn.

"Bullshit. Let me see it."

Her mouth snapped shut when he pried her hand away from her form. Reid's fingers brushed over her palm, wrapping around her hand gently. She felt the pull as he lifted her hand to eye level, inspecting the dark blood closer. His head tipped to the side as he looked at her index finger. Then his eyes met hers and they turned strikingly different in an instant; something she couldn't quite make out of.

After staring, she found her voice again. "It's just a paper cut."

She was reduced to speechlessness when his tongue sneaked out and licked gently over the wound. He took the opportunity, no—the advantage to take the fingertip in his mouth, causing him glee and mortification for her. The warmth of the inside of his mouth against her index finger sent shivers, and not because she was cold. His teeth grazed gently over it, causing her to jerk in place. She grew in tension as his lips curved up into a smile, all the while analyzing her in the process.

Maddie snapped out of her trance and pulled herself away, her face already feeling flushed. She walked down the hall, attempting to keep calm and looking for a way out, only to realize it was blocked. Reid was covering her only exit, the way into her first period classroom.

"Why so flustered, Maddie?"

His face was expressionless, his eyes a darker blue, and his pupils wide. She couldn't help but look at his lips as he pursed them slightly by biting at his bottom lip. Those lips were alluring.

"I'm not flustered," she argued, taking a deep breath. "Any reason on why you're showing your true colors now?"

He tilted his head to the side as he regarded her. "There doesn't always have to be a reason." Why the hell was he so calm about this? "You did say so yourself not to be scared of you, remember?"

_"Oh, and by the way, don't be afraid to talk to me, all right?" _

"I didn't think you'd do this."

"You're just going to have to deal with it then," he murmured, leaning down to place a kiss right at the base of her pale throat. He felt her swallow hardly as his lips ran over her skin teasingly, causing him to smile into her neck.

When she felt his tongue dart out to lick against her neck, Maddie felt her eyes close unconsciously at the touch, relishing in the feeling of heat and warmth after Reid's lips brushed past the spots on her skin. She silently thanked God that no one was there to witness the scene. Just like that and the rumors would already be spreading around like wildfire. She didn't realize it, but against her will, her head had tilted to the side, almost arching up to Reid. Her lips parted when his teeth grazed her skin gently.

And then, the nice feeling was gone.

Her eyes popped open, mourning for the loss of the soft touch, and she was met with his blue-eyed gazing, full on smirking face.

"Tease," she mumbled under her breath.

"And you know it," he said, cockiness laced in his voice.

With a wink, he briskly turned from her and walked in the other direction, hiding his smug face.

Maddie sneezed. With a heavy sigh, she grabbed a new tissue from the box she would have to carry on all day, and silently pressed the fabric to her nose. This sick feeling was disgusting. She didn't know whether she preferred this over the way Reid had made her feel earlier. Both sensations were equally unnerving.

"Hey," Katherine looked up when Maddie loudly slid in next to her. They had Calculus together every first period. "You still feeling sick?"

"Upmhf," she heard Maddie respond, or what sounded like a response. The pale girl dropped her books on her desk carelessly and folded her arms on the table, burrowing her head deeply into them.

Katherine frowned, reaching over to feel her friend's forehead. "I don't think you should have gotten up today. Maybe you should go back to the dorm and rest," she paused when Maddie shook her head sluggishly. "I can get your assignments for all the classes you missed."

"I'll be okay," Maddie answered blearily. "Don't worry about me."

"Too late about that."

Stubborn as she was, Maddie desperately tried with all the strength she had left to keep her head up in the class. She found it funny when all the numbers her Calculus professor was writing on the board kept leaping off of it. Maybe she was also insane. Her chin was supported by her open palm and she kept her elbow propped at the edge of the desk. She jerked when Mr. Magruder called her up to the board to demonstrate a problem.

"What are we doing?" she asked as quietly as she could, nudging Katherine weakly.

Her hazel-eyed friend glanced at her critically. "Problem number five."

Katherine watched as Maddie slowly made her way up to the board in front of the classroom. Only looking at the problem once, Maddie took the chalk and immediately started writing the whole process how to solve the problem. Katherine almost snorted; her friend was too smart sometimes. It was no wonder why she received an automatic scholarship to Spenser Academy. If Maddie was sick, she gave no indication that she was.

That was until after she answered the problem quickly. After circling the right answer, Maddie started doodling on the board, drawing a large dinosaur next to the math equation.

"Miss Bennett?" came Mr. Magruder's surprised inquiry. "What in heaven's name are you doing?"

"Drawing," Maddie responded as though it was the most obvious answer in the world. She was completely leaned against the board, depending on it as her support system to keep her upright.

The moment Maddie started sketching on the board, Katherine was already gathering her friend's things together and making her way down to the front of the room. She didn't care if anyone was looking or not, because quite honestly, they were all too busy in seeing what Maddie was supposed to be drawing.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Magruder," Katherine apologized on Maddie's behalf. "She's sick," she looked back at Maddie, who was giggling at the piece of chalk in her hands, "and delirious."

Mr. Magruder didn't know whether to be concerned or amused. "All right. Take her to the infirmary."

She nodded, grabbing hold of Maddie's elbow. "Come on, Maddie. We're going to the nurse, so put the chalk down."

"Mmm, 'kay," Maddie put the chalk down and stood up from her position. In an instant, things were swirling around her mind, and dizziness began to shake her core while tiny beads of color began to cloud her vision.

Katherine put her arm around Maddie's waist, supporting her the best way she could as her other hand was preoccupied with holding Maddie's bag and books. She felt Maddie lean on her heavily on the way out of the classroom. She towed the sick girl slowly across campus, and Katherine was cursing in her mind why their dorms had to be this far. Not that Maddie was heavy, which she certainly was not, her books were the main weight.

"Can we stop for a minute?" Maddie pleaded when she spotted a nearby bench. She sneezed, almost slumping on the spot when Katherine helped her sit on it.

"You look paler than you already were," Katherine said wryly, placing her hand on Maddie's forehead again. She immediately yanked it back, staring at Maddie incredulously. "Your forehead's burning!"

Maddie laughed, swaying on her seat. "Really?"

"Being sick is not funny," Katherine sighed.

"Maddie?" a different voice called from the distance.

_Oh no,_ Maddie thought in her mind, though it hurt her head terribly for doing so. _Please let me be imagining that horribly familiar voice. _

"What's wrong? Is she hurt?" that voice was close now, telling her it wasn't her imagination.

Katherine seemed stressed. "I think she's got the flu. She's already sneezing all over the place and she suddenly had a high fever."

"Maddie," Reid leaned in, peering at her closely. "Can you hear me?"

"No," Maddie groaned. "Go away."

She felt like vomiting when the bench beneath her disappeared.

Reid swept her into his arms, holding her as if she was a child. She was little more than a skeleton in her arms, making the feat of carrying her impossibly easy. He bent to pick up her bag, throwing it over his shoulder. The damn bag actually weighed more than she did. Holding her in his arms—it felt more natural than anything he's ever done before. It was as if his arms were made specifically to carry her only.

Maddie made a choking, strangled noise. "Put me down," she begged in a mortified whisper. She prayed that she wouldn't hurl on him.

"I'll take her back," Reid offered, staring down at Maddie. If she looked pale before, now she looked a bit green.

"Thanks," Katherine gave a small smile. "I'll come by at lunch and bring her some soup."

He nodded, beginning to walk off in the way leading to the dorms. Maddie couldn't help but groan again. The movement of his walking was not helping at all. Despite it all, Reid held her gingerly, supporting all her weight with just his arms, as if it didn't seem to bother him.

Maddie let her head gently fall to his shoulder, resting it there. She could smell him, a strange, masculine scent that she'd caught in brief waves during class or in the hall. He also smelled like clean laundry as she continued to sniff him. It overwhelmed her now. Closing her eyes, she breathed it in, letting it make her even more lightheaded.

The weight of her head against his shoulder, the exhaustion that it signified from her presence, made him ache with tenderness. Her soft strands ticked his neck, and their warm scent floated up into his nostrils. Her hand was resting against his heart, and he fought to keep his pulse under control. It was harder to pull off than it had ever been before.

It was even harder when Reid began to go through her bag with only one hand, while the other arm still cradled her bundled form. When his fingers found the key, he gripped it and placed it in the keyhole, letting both of them in. After laying her on her bed (or what he guessed was her bed because he couldn't tell which one was hers), he watched as she curled herself into it.

"Thank you," her sleepy voice said, though it was quiet and it had light tune to it.

"You're welcome," he replied, unmoving until she closed her eyes. He wondered what he would do next. Going back to class held no point because he had to stay here if Maddie needed anything. He could do homework, though he snorted at the idea.

Just as he settled himself on the chair that was next to the computer, Maddie jerked awake, her form coming into a straight sitting position. Instantly, Reid's attention was on her. "What's wrong, Maddie?" he asked with concern.

"You look tired, Reid."

Reid blinked in response. She was the one that was sick and she was worried about _him_? Maybe she really was delirious.

Maddie cocked her head to the side. "Wanna sleep next to me?" she asked, sleepy-hooded eyelids that partially covered the butterscotch color underneath.

The way she asked him—it wasn't seductive or it wasn't meant to lure him in. If anything, the question contained pure innocence. Still, with the way she had asked, he thought it was incredibly sexy.

He couldn't deny her.

"Already enthusiastic about getting me into bed with you," he mused as he made his way over to her. If Maddie was fully conscious and wasn't sick at all, she would have slapped the hell out of him for saying a comment like that.

Maddie felt a gush of cold air as he crawled in beside her. Only then was he settled in did she feel comforted, her shoulders slackening with ease as she laid down next to him. Her back cuddled his chest and a calm silence overtook the two teens.

"Reid?" he heard her groggily ask. "Are you still there?"

"I'm here." His arms encircled her waist, pulling them closer to his body. His chin dropped to her shoulder, pressing soothing kisses over the blade. "Just relax," he whispered.

On his quiet command, Maddie did relax. It felt very nice having him behind her, holding her that way, giving her small kisses over the skin of her shoulder. She remembered feeling warm before she drifted off into sleep.

* * *

Reid's blue eyes opened in awake when he heard the distant knock on the door. He sneaked a glance at Maddie, who was still asleep. Careful not to wake her, he removed his arms from her waist and crawled over her, trying not to make any noises. He walked over and opened the door.

Katherine bustled in, one hand steadying a bowl of steaming soup while the other held a large glass of orange juice. She set the items down on the bedside stand. "Sorry about the noise. I would have opened the door with my key but I didn't have enough hands," she told him.

"It's okay," he murmured sleepily.

The girl looked at Maddie's sleeping form, and then looked at Reid's sleep-deprived face. "You—you didn't sleep with her did you?" she stuttered in shock.

"I slept in the same bed as her."

"But did you _sleep_ with her?" Katherine's hands made it to her hips.

Reid stared at her impassively. "She's _sick_. Why would I sleep with her?" he was shocked that Katherine would even think of such a thing.

Well, maybe she had her reasons.

"Anyway, make sure she drinks all the soup and all the orange juice right after she wakes up," she ordered, satisfied when Reid nodded. She glanced at her watch, practically running towards the door. "I'm going to be late…" She waved bye before disappearing though the door and closing it with a small click.

Golden eyes opened from their slumber right when the door clicked. Maddie sat up, rubbing her eyes carefully from her sleep. Her headache was gone, thanks to that nice slumber, but her head still felt strangely warm, and her nose was still feeling stuffy. She turned her head to the side, noticing the bowl of soup and the glass of orange juice. Where did all this come from?

"Katherine came by," Reid answered for her.

Maddie stared closely at the steam that evaporated from the soup, staring as though it was a tiny insect. "Do I have to drink all of it?"

"You don't have a choice," Reid grinned, coming forward to sit on the edge of the bed. "Katherine would kill us both if you didn't drink it all."

"Fine," she conceded, carefully bringing the bowl over to her lap. She grabbed the spoon, hesitating as she lifted it up to her mouth.

Reid arched an eyebrow, his voice coming out in a tease. "Do you need me to feed you?"

Her eyes narrowed at him. "Quiet," she snapped, bringing the spoon to her mouth. The warm liquid did do her a whole lot better by clearing her throat, so that she didn't sound so scratchy. As she took another sip, her eyes drifted to the large glass of orange juice. "Why orange juice? Why not water?"

"Because orange juice has multivitamins in it. Those vitamins can help your immune system and cure your illness faster."

"Aren't you a smartie," her tone wasn't mocking, but rather surprising.

Reid leaned forward, his chin held in his hand. "Did you move here alone?"

Maddie was also surprised by that question. "Yes."

"Where are your parents?"

"They're traveling around the world," she smiled at the mentioning of her parents. A day hasn't gone by when she doesn't miss her crazy parents. She wasn't used to being all alone, in a different state. "They work as zoologists. Right now, they're in Africa, studying the animals that inhabit around there."

"And you didn't go with them?" he asked, tilting his head.

"No. I love them, but I wouldn't miss my education to go around, staring at a bunch of animals. I was working hard on a scholarship so that I could get out of that town and luckily, I received a scholarship to go here," she paused, contemplating if she should tell him more. She decided she wanted to. "I used to live in Dillon, and I could honestly say that I didn't like that place at all. Everything there was football this, football that. The town was football crazy. You couldn't go anywhere without having someone talking about football."

"That sounds…nice."

"Yeah," she frowned. "Dillon always rooted for the team at my old high school, the Panthers. The team was treated like royalty wherever they went, and they acted like it too," she continually sipped her soup until the last remnants of the hot fluid was gone. "Good soup."

Reid snorted. "And you didn't want to drink all of it."

"That was before. You know, it does kinda make me feel a bit—" Maddie was cut off when she lurched in her bed, a hand cradling her abdomen as she hastily dropped the empty bowl nosily on the bedside stand.

"Does something hurt?" Reid asked, placing his hands on her shoulders to steady her. Worry tugged inside as he watched her face grow that familiar shade of green he saw earlier.

Maddie didn't answer. Instead, she jumped from his touch and sprinted to the bathroom.

The blonde Son of Ipswich instantly followed the quick girl, his foot caught between the door and the frame before the door had a chance to slam shut. Maddie was knelt on the ground near the toilet, her black hair covering her face like dark curtains as she retched into the toilet. In this case, Reid felt helpless as he watched her relieve herself. It reminded him of that one time how his mother was vomiting in the toilet because of recent food poisoning, and the only thing he could do was hold his mother's hair back.

Reid pulled a nearby stool right behind her and sat down, gathering her long, soft hair together with his fingers, and holding it with one hand. His other hand was preoccupied by being placed against her back, rubbing soothing circles against it with his thumb.

When the last of it flowed out of her mouth, her arm raised weakly to pull at the trigger that flushed the toilet. She didn't even have the stomach to look at what she had created, considering that would be disgusting. As it flushed, she made a tired noise, feeling her stomach churning inside. Her forehead met the cool porcelain of the marble.

"Here," she heard Reid call to her. Wasn't he behind her earlier? How'd he get over there? The large glass of orange juice waved in front of her face. "Drink it."

"Uh…in case you haven't noticed, I'm in the middle of vomiting my heart out here."

His blue eyes rolled at her overly-dramatic cause. "It'll help," he told her. "Unless you want to stay there and keep retching into the toilet. It's up to you."

Maddie didn't have the heart, or the strength for that matter, to glare back or give a smart retort. She sat up, wincing as her stomach muscles clenched uncomfortably, and took the cool glass in her hands. The thing was so heavy. It was like holding an anvil. Her hands fumbled as she tried to hold the glass in her two hands.

Just when the glass was tipping forward, only mere seconds away from spilling everywhere, Reid reached over and took hold of the cup. "Hey, what are you doing?" she asked, her voice becoming breathless.

Reid held up the glass as his answer, and before she could find it in her voice to refuse, he was gently cupping her head and carefully holding the glass to her lips. She had no choice but to sip, letting the cool liquid clear some of that burning feeling at her throat. They watched each other over the rim, her eyes tired, and his eyes wary.

"You really are sick," he noted, taking the glass away when it was just about half empty.

"First time too," she added a bit cheerfully. He wondered how in the world she could be so cheerful in a sickly state like hers. Maybe being sick for the first time was causing her to get all excited.

"I don't think that's something you should be happy about."

"I always wanted to know how it would feel to be sick. I take it back though."

Reid chuckled. He helped her up when he saw her struggling against the sink counter. The notion caused Maddie to grin widely. "Reid Garwin is actually taking care of me. I feel so lucky."

"When you're done being sick, maybe I could take care of your _other_ needs as well," he winked, sending her a devilish smile.

Maddie squirted toothpaste onto her toothbrush. "I'm too sick to think about sex, Garwin," she retorted, placing the brush into her mouth and started to carefully brush her teeth. Vomiting really left a horrible aftertaste and she couldn't stand the taste of it being in her mouth too long.

"I wasn't talking about sex. Don't be thinking dirty."

She didn't respond, though she smiled at what Reid had said. She wondered if she was ever going to win an argument against him in the future. Probably. After brushing her teeth, she grabbed the bottle of mouthwash and started to rinse her mouth. She needed it to be super clean before she did anything else. Maddie should have been apprehensive about the way Reid just sat back comfortably and watched her. Instead, for some reason, she felt at ease. It surprised her how much him being there didn't really bother her all that much.

He was such a good caretaker.

Of her.

Maddie pressed the heel of her hand against her mouth, hiding her amused smile. What his face would be if she had told him how good of a caretaker he really was, she would give to see.

"Can I borrow your cell phone?" she suddenly asked.

"Where's yours?"

"I…" she scratched the back of her neck. "I don't have one."

"You don't have a phone? What kind of teenager are you?" his eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you have an mp3 player?"

"What's that?"

Reid stared at her in shock. She didn't know what that was? "Did you live in a cave, Maddie?"

Maddie glared at him. "I don't have a phone because I didn't really need one where I used to live. As for the np3 player, or whatever it's called, I'm sure I don't have that either. What's an np3 player do?"

"An _m_p3 player," Reid corrected, "stores your music. It could do other things like record videos and file documents and pictures, but it's mainly produced for music."

"Like an iPod?" she grinned at the look he gave her. "Katherine has one," she explained. A pale hand stretched out towards him, her palm open and her fingers spread apart. "Can I borrow your phone now?"

Reid dug his hand into his pocked and took out his phone, placing it in her hand. "Go crazy with it," he told her with a grin of his own.

She childishly stuck her tongue out before dialing. It was hard at first, since the numbers were so damn small, much to the blonde boy's amusement. She gritted her teeth when he laughed at her. Her fingers slowly pressed the buttons, holding the device up to her ear when she was finished dialing.

_"Hello?"_ the voice on the other line said.

"Hey, Katherine."

_"Maddie! How are you feeling? Are you feeling better?" _

"Yeah," her voice sounded odd when she lied. Maddie refused to tell Katherine she had vomited. That would only make her friend worry more. "Thanks for the soup and the juice. Did you by any chance get all my homework?"

An exasperated sigh. _"Yes. I got it all for you. Don't worry."_

"You sure?"

_"Yeah. Go back to sleep." _

"Did you get the all my French notes? If you didn't, you should ask Anna. She always takes good notes."

_"I already did, Maddie. You really should—"_

"You took down all the notes for History, didn't you? Cause I need to borrow them later on."

_"I know—"_

"And for my Music Theory class—well, you can't really get notes on that. We were just practicing for the week, so—"

_"Maddie!" _

"What?"

_"Go. To. Sleep."_ With that said, she hung up.

Maddie glanced at the phone, the line coming to a dead end. "How rude," she murmured, giving the phone back to Reid.

"You annoyed her."

"How do you know that?" she asked accusingly, her gold eyes glinting against his smirking face.

Reid stood, walking past her. "You annoyed me, and you weren't even talking to me in the first place."

He crossed the room and collapsed gracefully onto her bed. Well, to Maddie, she thought that he did that gracefully. He lied on his stomach with his face pressed against her pillow, his blonde hair spreading out on the white sheet. Maddie closed the bathroom door and stride along the room, creeping up to the bed, lying next to him except in a different position than he was. Her arms were folded across her stomach as she lied on her back, her face staring up at the ceiling above her. Her eyes became droopy as she covered her mouth from yawning.

"At least cover yourself." Reid's voice was close to her, and she felt the blanket beneath her slide out until it was softly tucked on top of her. Feeling that warmth again, she felt her mind go hazy.

When her eyes were starting to close, she heard him say, "I'm getting you a cell phone."

She smiled, welcoming the darkness that sleep provided her with.

* * *

A/N: Dillion. Panthers. Football. Brownie points for anyone who can figure it out!

And thanks for the reviews!


	3. Kiss Me

A/N: SURPRISE! I didn't have to go to school today, so I spend the whole day, working on this chapter for you guys! Your reviews really made me the happiest person in the world. Thank you so much!

* * *

Her flu had been dispersed along the week, and she felt better than she had originally started off with on Monday. Her fever had gone down tremendously after the first day and now, all she was left with was the sniffles. And however annoying the sniffles were, she was glad that was the only thing left.

It had happened in her second period class. It was AP Music Theory, and not to mention her favorite class of the day. This class was the only class she didn't have to study for. Music came very easily to her, considering she had been playing a wide variety of instruments since the ripe age of two, particularly the piano. She preferred playing music over chatting over the phone, or even going online to chat with her friends. She never chose the time to make a Facebook for herself. The only time she ever went online was to do research for homework. To pass time, she read novels and texts all the while listening to music that literally belonged in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, rather than listening to modern music.

It was no wonder why she was far behind in the latest technology.

Maddie had been playing a symphony she was supposed to be learning that week at one of the piano stations when Reid strolled in casually. She had not been deterred in playing, but her eyes followed him curiously. She watched as the blonde boy handed her teacher a slim, white slip.

"Maddie Bennett," Mrs. Bordoli read the slip, "you're wanted in the principal's office."

She furrowed her brows. What had she done? The last time she checked, she hadn't done anything wrong. And more importantly, why was Reid sentenced to get her in the first place?

"What did I do?" she asked, her head filled with paranoia when the two teenagers entered the hallway.

"You didn't do anything."

"Then why am I going to the principal's office?"

Reid didn't answer her question. "Put you books in your locker," he ordered her, once they were in front of the lockers.

"Not until you tell me where we're going."

He leaned against the bank of lockers casually. "You ever heard of the term 'go with the flow'?" he grinned easily at her, white teach flashing under curved lips.

"I've heard 'expect the unexpected'," she responded sarcastically, thinking that phrase could have not fit the situation any better than it did. Nevertheless, she opened her locker anyway, dumping her books in there.

"You don't need your bag either," she hard him tell her a moment later. "In fact, don't bring anything at all."

Maddie's butterscotch eyes lighted up in recognition. "We can't _ditch_ school, Reid," she said that as though that was considered breaking the law. "I've already missed a day this week. I can't skip another."

"Come on," the blonde boy replied impatiently, not bothering to wait for her as he turned on his feet and started walking into another hallway.

Maddie stared after him in a mixture of amazement and irritation. She had no choice—well, she actually did have a choice, but she chose to follow him based on her piqued curiosity. At first, she thought they were going back to her dorm, but when Reid passed the girls' dormitory building, it had her thinking of many insane and unreasonable thoughts. He could be taking her anywhere. It would be Boston, or a simple marketplace downtown, or freaking Disneyland for all she knew. Or he could be taking her to the one place she detested the most: a strip club.

This was Reid Garwin she was talking about here.

She continued following him until they were outside on the school parking lot. She had pestered him with questions and protests, but he didn't respond to any. He could have blocked her out, the perks of selective hearing, but he chose to listen to her ramble on with a simple smirk on his face. Maddie saw that, and it made her want to rip it off. They haven't even known each other for a full month and yet, she already wanted to kill him.

"Hmm," Maddie murmured thoughtfully in a quiet awe as they neared on car in particular. It was a red and black, expensive looking car that gleamed in all its glory underneath the rays of the sunlight. "Nice car," she eyed it with interest. The car probably cost more than her house back in Dillon. No, it cost more than all the houses in her hometown.

"Isn't it?" Reid asked, agreeing with her. He was never one to flaunt his money, but once he saw the Bugatti Veyron, he knew he had to have it.

She slid in the car, enclosed in its richness. "Now can you tell me where you're taking me?" she placed the seatbelt over her, prepared to face the worst.

Reid chuckled upon seeing her face. He started the car and slowly backed out of Spenser's parking lot. "Try not to look so horrified. It's not like I'm taking you to crack house."

Maddie lifted a brow. "Well, I really don't know how to look, considering _someone_ won't tell me where we're going."

She looked out the window, the outline of Spenser Academy disappearing rapidly behind her as the followed a trail that was fully surrounded by trees.

A ditching day with Reid.

She better buckle that seatbelt real tight.

* * *

"I want that one."

"You're joking, right?"

"Nope."

"But there are better ones around here than that one."

"I think it's cute."

Reid picked up a random phone around him, ironically it was an iPhone. "See this? You could do so many things with this one," he explained as he scrolled down the touch screen menu, pressing a bunch of icons. He knew what he was doing; problem was, Maddie didn't have a clue.

True to his word, Reid had taken her to get her very first phone. She had objected at first, and that included not even entering the phone store, but rather glued to his car door. Reid had to drag her away from his car and literally hold her hand to keep her from escaping. To prove she had some dignity left, Maddie offered—no, _demanded_ that she pay for her phone herself. That is until she had forgotten that she had left her bag back at school. Just like Reid had told her to and she was stupid enough to listen.

Sneaky bastard.

Maddie utilized her time by walking around the store, her eye twitching at how complicated these high-tech phones actually were. First there were the types that slide up to show the keypad. On another similar phone, she had tried to slide that up too, only to realize that one didn't slide. It flipped up. And then there was the whole texting issue. It really did take her five minutes to type one short sentence, much to Reid's mirth. She had given up then, trying to look for the cheapest, most convenient phone for her.

"It looks expensive," Maddie noted, watching as Reid touched another icon.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" he muttered, blue gaze heavily on hers. "Money isn't a problem for me."

"Well, it is for _me_, considering that thing cost three hundred dollars. Do you know how many groceries you could buy with that much money? It shouldn't be spent on a phone."

"This phone does almost everything!" he tried to argue with her. "You can text, you can store music, you can go on the internet. I'd say it's worth three hundred dollars."

Maddie shook her head stubbornly, pointing to a black and white phone that had caught her eye. It was a simple one; one that slid up with a normal keypad (not the one with all the letters stretched out on it), the phone was one of the older ones that the store carried. Looking at the label, the phone was a Nokia 6111, and it was one of the smallest phones there. She instantly liked it upon seeing it.

"I like this one," she held the small phone in her palm. It worked out, and it didn't cost all that much. She smiled at seeing his frown. "Come on, Reid. You told me I could get any phone I wanted."

True, he had said that. But how else was he supposed to get her into the store? Maddie had been willing to stay outside, protesting all the while, if he hadn't bribed her with that option.

"I said you could get any phone that's _reasonable_."

Reasonable being one of the expensive, nicer-looking ones that caused your friends to envy you. The kind of phones that everyone wished they had.

"This one is reasonable," she told him. "If I had it my way, I wouldn't even be buying a phone at all. Plus, you get a discount if you're a member."

"You think I can't afford this phone?" Reid wasn't merely shocked by what she had said. He was affronted, astounded, and maybe a little hurt. Did she not know who he was?

Maddie wanted to laugh at his face. Of course she knew how extremely wealthy he was. Judging by his nature, his nice and shiny car, his clothing—even his casual clothing reeked of the rich life. She believed that a broom closet or a shed in his house would cost more than all the money's worth of normal houses of Massachusetts combined. Maybe even houses in other states.

"I never said that you couldn't afford it," she replied, mentally rolling her eyes. "I was just stating the fact that they give discounts. You know, discounts are a way of saving money for us commoners."

Those blue eyes narrowed at her. "I know what discounts are," he said defensively. His accusing tone hidden beneath his defensive one made Maddie smile.

She took the Nokia 6111 and placed it in his hand, giving him a nudge towards the cashier. "Go on," she grinned encouragingly, giving him a hard push.

An indignant look was followed by a glare as Reid made his way toward the cashier to pay for the insanely cheap-ass phone. Buying this was almost mocking his wealth. He bit back a snort when he returned with the newly-bought phone, meeting the image of Maddie trying to figure out the iPhone.

"Now, this," she waved the iPhone in his face, "is an unreasonable phone. I press one button and it automatically presses another," her face lighted up when he gave the phone to her. It was hers. It belonged to her now. "Thank you," she murmured a fully fledged smile on her face.

_Aw, crap_, he morosely thought as his heart sped ten times faster the normal rate at the sight of her beautiful smile.

"So, are we going back to school?" she asked, once they stepped out onto the street.

Reid eyed her strangely, before smirking at her. "What part of 'ditching' don't you understand?"

Maddie made a face. There were certain things he did that made her actually like him. For example, buy her the phone she wanted. Not many boys would just take her out of school and go buy something for her. That part of Reid made her smile. Another part of him was how he said something that completely took that smile off her face, making her forget whatever thing he's done for her, and made her want to smack him.

"When's your birthday?" she asked him curiously.

"July thirty-first."

"Oh," she said after a while, her lips pursing together in thought. "You know what? You have the same birthday as Harry Potter."

Reid made a growling noise at his throat at the name. "Don't mention his name around me."

"Harry Potter?"

His seething eyes turned on her.

Maddie bit back an amused grin. "What do you have against Harry Potter?"

"I hate him."

"He's a fictional character," Maddie pointed out tentatively.

"What's your point?"

"I love the series," she began, ignoring his question. "Do you ever think what it's like to live in a world full of magic?" she asked, unable to notice the way the blonde Son of Ipswich froze at the word 'magic'. "To fight using curses instead of fists or to learn subjects like Transfiguration and Charms, instead of simple Science and Math? I'd like to wave a wand around too."

He sneered at the thought, succeeding in masking his true expression. "What's so special about waving a stick around?"

"It's the fact that magic comes out of that stick."

"Not all magic comes out of a stick," he grumbled quietly in the barest of whispers. It was so quiet, that Maddie had to strain her ears to hear it.

"You're right," she agreed with him. "There are other forms of magic. At times, I think magic doesn't exist at all. But when I read books like Harry Potter," she continued when Reid snorted at the name, "or when I watch movies with magic in them, I kinda wish magic would exist."

_It does_, Reid fought the urge to say that out loud.

If only she knew.

"Can we go to the bookstore? I want to get that new Harry—"

"No."

Maddie peered at him earnestly. "I swear, I'll pay you back. It'll be real short. I'm just going to go in and—"

"No."

"What if I wanted another book? If it wasn't a Harry Potter book, would you pay for it?"

Reid remained silent, his eyes drifting to hers and then up to the sky. "Sure."

Her shoulders slumped as she sighed, thinking how extremely ridiculous he was being with his hatred for one of her favorite books. When she looked back up at him, she noticed a dark glint in his eye as he watched her. "What?" she asked, feeling his gaze long on her.

"Have you ever been to Nicky's?"

Later that day, when the sun was long gone and the moon was in the midst of rising, she found herself at Nicky's, gawking around her surroundings. She had no idea it would be a bar. The way Reid had explained it to her earlier, it had sounded like utopia. Her eyes had still been trained on the pool tables, the long bar, the dancing of the bodies, when Katherine had made her way over to her.

"Not what you expected?" Judging by the look on her friend's face, Katherine would think so.

Maddie shook her head, still staring. "Not at all," she had scoffed at herself before turning that into a laugh. "Where's Reid? I want to know where he is before I murder him."

Katherine grinned in sudden amusement. "Why?"

"He told me this place had a candy bar. I see a _bar_, but I don't see any candy."

"Why would this place have candy?"

"Ask Reid," Maddie managed through clenched teeth.

The hazel-eyed girl laughed, slinging an arm around Maddie's small shoulders and putting their heads together in a friendly fashion. "Do you think you would have gone here if Reid had told you the true description of what Nicky's looked like?"

"I still would have gone," Maddie started indignantly, but when Katherine raised an eyebrow at her, she muttered, "Fine, I wouldn't. But that's only because I've got other things to do."

"Like what?" Katherine made an impish noise. "It's a Friday. What do you usually do on Fridays?"

Back in Dillon, she actually did nothing on Fridays. All her friends, amazingly as it was, were hard-core football fans. It just so happens that every Friday in Dillon, there was always a football game between Dillon's beloved high school team, the Panthers, and some other football team. It was either go to the football game, or stay home and do nothing, because every store and franchise in Dillon had to be closed, just so that the owners of the stores could go watch the game. She couldn't even watch TV on Fridays, because every channel she flipped through had a showing of the current football game. Even the news channels' latest news were about the game dealing with the Panthers.

Oh, she hated Dillon.

She reckoned her parents hated that place too. The only reason they stayed in that part of Texas was because their main laboratory, or whatever it is zoologists had, was there. Her mother and father had accepted to travel around the world as quick as she had accepted to go to Spenser, and all for one particular cause: to get away from Dillon and its madness.

"I was going to figure out how to use my new phone."

Katherine smiled slyly, nudging her elbow into her side. "I still think it's adorable that Reid went out and bought you a phone."

"You forgot to mention that he abducted me from class and literally dragged me into the store with him."

"And he was willing to buy you the phone that cost the most too!" Katherine continued as if she hadn't heard what Maddie had said. "You're lucky. He wouldn't buy things for just any girl, you know."

"Nor would he stare at a girl after bumping into her, or care for her because she's sick as crap," Maddie had added sarcastically, but underneath her tone, she felt pleasantly warm. She was actually thankful for Reid taking care of her, and buying her a phone. He was really making her stay in Massachusetts memorable.

"I'm going to get a drink," Katherine decided, about to make her way to the bar. "You want anything?"

"Do I drink, Kat?"

Katherine rolled her eyes. "You could have just said 'no'."

Maddie grinned when her friend left. Her hand flew out and caught an arm when the person passed her. The person turned, staring right at her, before a smile broke out on his face. "Hi, Tyler," she greeted, reaching up to muss up his hair.

"Hey," he chuckled, his hands poised over his head, protecting it. "Heard you had an eventful day."

"Ugh. I still don't know how to use my phone."

"Did you read the manual?"

"It comes with a manual?" Maddie was surprised at the news. She didn't know there were instructions; obviously they were hidden somewhere in the box. A tired expression filtered across her face. "I can't believe Reid pulled me out of school."

Tyler laughed, patting Maddie on her back. "He does things like that."

"Does he do it all the time?"

"They don't call him the 'rebel son of Ipswich' for nothing."

"I figured," she said, letting out a long sigh. "Where is he anyway?"

"Where he always is," Tyler responded, his hand lifting up and pointing at one of the pool tables.

Oddly enough, Reid was the first person she saw that was blended around there. He was the only blonde within distance of the whole bar, besides Sarah, but she was sitting on the other side of the room next to Caleb. It seemed that Reid was playing by another group of unnamed boys, and it also seemed that he had won that game, considering the dejected looks on the boys' faces as Reid collected their money with a smirk of his own.

Why did he need that money? He was already loaded to begin with.

She parted from Tyler with a good-bye as she made her way to the pool tables. Maddie unsuccessfully dodged the dancing bodies of couples out on the floor, so that she wouldn't get roughly rammed into to. Just escaping her way from those people was a feat itself. She was almost stepped on twice and she had been bumped on the side more times than she could count. Her shoulders and her hips were slightly aching when she had made it through. Those people really danced hard out on the floor.

"Garwin," she pinched his side to get him to turn around, "I don't see any candy anywhere."

A look of recognition flashed in his eyes. "Oh. I lied."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Did you just say a bad word?" His eyebrow arched upwards. "Maybe I'm rubbing off on you."

"Right," she rolled her eyes. She reached over and fiddled with the pool stick. "Didn't know you played pool."

The same smirk he always had settled right onto his face. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me."

"Wanna play?"

Reid would have stumbled as he walked around the table, but luckily he didn't. He stared at her as he racked the cue balls together, not quite sure if he was hearing right. "What?" he finally asked.

"Pool," she outwardly grinned at his surprised expression. "I know how to play, and I think I could beat you at it."

He chuckled then, his head tilted in her direction inquiringly. "Is that a challenge?"

"You bet," Maddie suddenly felt spontaneous, and a little…devilish. "If I win, we go out on a Harry Potter day. You have to buy me a whole new set of Harry Potter books and we go see that new Harry Potter movie that just came out—_The Half Blood Prince_," she finished, laughing as she caught the martyred look on Reid's face.

"Fine," he mumbled, not liking her proposition at all. He bit the inside of his cheek in thought. "If I win, you have to…kiss me."

Maddie stopped. "Huh?"

"Kiss me," he repeated slowly, as if she was a child. He ignored the glare that was sent his way. "You sure you wanna do this?"

"Yeah."

What was she getting herself into?

"Okay," Reid had on a grin as though he already won the game. By that grin, Maddie had a feeling she was deep in trouble. "Grab a stick," he inclined his head towards the rack that held the sticks together.

In the beginning of the game, they were evenly matched. She had to remind herself to thank her uncle for teaching her how to play pool. She was well-trained. She knew which balls to sink, and which to just leave it there. Maddie had played pool so many times; she had even played against older, more experienced men. Her uncle would always smile in pride whenever she had won a game for him. The best part was seeing the shocked expressions on her opponents' faces. It always gave her a good laugh whenever she went home.

Maddie didn't know when it happened or how it happened, but she found herself losing. Sure, she had sunk a ball or two, but just when she was about to grin at her success, she would look back at Reid's face and find that he didn't look the least nervous at all. It was like he knew her every move. In the middle progressing of the game, he was sinking more balls than she was, using unique combo shots she had never seen before. Towards the end of the game, Reid had a firm smirk planted on his face.

She had lost.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

She shouldn't have opened her big mouth and challenged him in the first place.

"I win," his voice lifted into the air, his eyes glinting mischievously at her.

"There's no need to rub it in," she narrowed her eyes, her lips forming a frown.

"Hmm."

A strong arm tugged at her hip roughly, causing her to collide into his solid body. This brought back memories of her crashing into him the first time. His chest was still as hard and painful as ever when she hit him. Maddie made a surprised noise as she was quickly hauled into the air, his hands suddenly gripping her waist. She had dropped her pool stick in the process. He lifted her until she sat at the edge of the table, teetering at its countertop. His hands gently pried her knees away, and then he was suddenly in front of her, eye to eye, straddled between her thighs.

Holy crap.

She heard his amused laugh, followed by him murmuring, "You don't have to be scared," he teased, bringing his hand up to her face to brush a stray strand of raven-colored hair.

"Not scared," she mumbled, golden eyes averted.

Reid held her chin with one hand, forcing her to look at him. In an instant, gold met blue. He leaned in, and just when she thought their lips would meet, he had bend his head down to her neck: his favorite place to attack. His blonde hair tickled her throat as his lips skin over the surface of her skin. She bit her lip, trying hard not to part them. The next moment was filled with small, feather-like kisses along her neck. He knew what he was doing. He had done it before.

"Hey," she started, trying to keep her eyes open. "You said only one kiss—" she gasped, the noise turning into a light moan when he gave her a particularly hard bite. A gentle lick was lapped over the bite, as if apologizing for biting her, but she found that she didn't mind one bit.

She was met with his smirking face again, once he detached himself from her pale neck. She bit the corner of her lip, nearly gnawing on it as she waited anticipation for him to make his next move. His blue eyes were testing her, seeing if he could hold her gaze long enough. His hand went to her cheek, feeling the warmth of it beneath his palm. When he leaned in, he watched as her eyes closed halfway, her long eyelashes creating shadows on her face. She could feel his breath on hers when he neared, waiting for that warmth to cover her lips.

It never came.

Her eyes widened incredulously when he pulled away. There was a pained expression on his face when he averted his gaze from her. He wanted to kiss her. Badly. But instead, he squeezed her hips softly before letting his hands fall down to his side.

"Wha…?" she could barely make out the words to say for it.

A small, forced smile came onto his face, the pained expression vanishing. "When I kiss you, I want you to _want_ me to kiss you, not because you lost at a game of pool."

With that said, he withdrew from her, walking away from the pool table, hands gripped tightly in his pockets.

Maddie watched the retreating of his back until he faded from her sight. She chose to look up that the ceiling, mauling over her thoughts of what had just transpired, or rather, what _didn't_ transpire.

She didn't notice Aaron and his pack of boys follow Reid out the door.

She didn't notice the other three Sons of Ipswich exit through the door either.

Maddie just sat.

Did that mean that he had wanted to kiss her? Did he truly mean that? He wasn't doing all that just because he naturally was a flirt was he? And what about her? Did she want to kiss him? She could have pushed him away anytime, breaking their little deal (though she highly doubt that she would do that), and she could have stopped him. But she didn't. Guess that explains the look of disappointment on her face when he pulled away.

She hopped off the table, determined to go after him. Maddie hoped they were still friends after this. She didn't want this to be cause an awkward rift between them. She laughed at the thought. Things were never awkward when it involved Reid Garwin— that was for sure.

"Hey, Maddie—"

"Sorry, Kat, I can't talk right now."

Katherine held onto Maddie's arm anyway. "I was just asking if you needed a ride back to the dorms."

"No," Maddie shook her head quickly, her eyes darting to the door. "I walked here. I can walk back."

"I'm not letting you walk alone," Katherine said with a frown. "Meet me at my car when you're done."

Maddie nodded, saving herself as much time as possible. She spared a tight smile for her friend before Katherine's grip loosened on her arm, allowing her to go. She gently wretched her arm back to her side and headed through the door, pushing it open and feeling the cool air wash over her face. She stepped to the side when an angry Aaron Abbot stomped through the door, cradling his broken jaw. His friends didn't look in a better condition than he did.

What happened?

She made sure to hide herself in the shadows. She knew that eavesdropping was about the worst thing there is, but she couldn't help herself. The four sons were in the alleyway, a white light flickering above them, allowing Maddie to see the emotions running across their faces.

"Did you use, Reid?" Caleb demanded angrily, arms crossed tightly.

Reid sent him an icy glare. "No."

"Then why was Abbot mad? You must have done something."

"Why do you always blame me? Why is it always my fault?" the blonde Son snapped, each word slicing through the air like a knife. "Is it so surprising that I didn't use this time? Huh, Caleb? You're just waiting for me to crack, aren't you?"

"Someone used!" Caleb shouted. "Someone used the night after the party at the Dells. Did you do it or not, Reid?"

"What the _fuck_?" Reid's posture changed from his stoic position, as if he were to lash himself on Caleb that instant.

"It wasn't him." This came from Tyler.

Caleb directed his anger towards the youngest Son of the group. "How would you know?"

Tyler's deep blue eyes flashed in ire. "Because I'm his goddamn roommate, Caleb."

"Calm down, Caleb," Pogue warned, his hand settling on Caleb's shoulder. He hadn't said anything in this, not wanting to get into it now, at this time.

"He used," Caleb accused, as Tyler glared at their leader, and Reid made a growling noise at the back of his throat. Pogue just looked indecisive about the whole thing.

Silence.

"What's using?"

The four Sons of Ipswich had frozen in place. Someone had found them out. Oddly, they recognized that familiar, light voice. The one who recognized it the most had to be Reid, considering he was just with her moments ago. Chills ran down each boy's back as they turned around, facing Maddie, who had the look of utter confusion on her face. Only one thought ran through each boy's mind as they contemplated her curious stare.

_Shit. _


	4. Avoid Me

A/N: I had trouble with this chapter. I hit a huge writing block in the middle of writing it. Hopefully that won't happen again.

* * *

She was trapped inside a car with a bunch of witches.

Warlocks. Wizards. Fairies.

What exactly _were_ they?

To say that the car ride—to God-knows-where-they're-taking-her—was awkward was simply a huge understatement. The word 'awkward' doesn't' even the define the situation she's put herself in. What possessed her to step out of the shadows, to identify herself to them all, and then to idiotically ask what 'using' had meant? Why couldn't she have minded her own business and walked away? She would have been back in her dorm by now, depending on how long her intended confrontation with Reid was going to be. She would have been warmly tucked under her blanket, propped up with pillows, and reading whatever it was she could find.

Instead, she was here, sandwiched between the two eldest Sons, her gold eyes blinking at the interior of Tyler's shiny hummer. As soon as she asked them what was using, she was met with four identically horrified faces. They stared at her as if she was a dead corpse gone to life. She felt extremely odd under their stares of scrutiny. She considered turning her back on them, to forget all that had happened, but two pairs of arms latched onto her elbows, and they were pulling her to the hummer.

Between the Sons, Pogue and Caleb had tried their hardest not to stare openly at Maddie. She in return, feeling their gazes upon her, leaned back against the seat, clasped her hands together, and fiddled with her thumbs. "Can you tell me where we're going?" she stared back at the boys, meeting their gazes.

Pogue looked away in abash, but Caleb answered for her. "The Colony House."

"Where's that?"

"You'll see."

With that said, Caleb abruptly turned away from her, his eyes trained at the window shield, looking out into the blackness of the night. They were all trying hard not to look at her, so they looked out the window instead. All except for Reid, who was driving the car. His blue eyes had been straightforwardly staring at her the entire time. At one point, she met his glance through the rearview mirror, their eyes connecting silently. As quick as that moment had come, it soon left.

An imaginary dread filled the pit of her stomach, the keyword being 'imaginary'. What if they were taking her far away from Ipswich so that they could be rid of her? For all she knew, they could be driving her towards her death. They were going to kill her. These kinds of things happened all the time. The scenario starts as person A finds out a secret of person B, and soon, person A regrets ever finding about that at all. Person A mysteriously ends up dead and person B walks away with a victorious smile that is filled with fulfilled revenge.

A second scenario would be where person A meets person B, and person A has a weird feeling about person B. They form a friendship and person A is grateful for that. Person A then suddenly realizes that something is very odd about person B, and person A starts snooping around. Person A finds out who person B really is, only to also realize that person A has fallen in love with person B. Somehow and somewhere, person A is in trouble and it is up to person B to save person A by using supernatural abilities (depending on what person B is) and saves person A.

The third scenario, and one that Maddie had thought was completely and irrelevantly off but she decided to think about it anyway, is similar to the second scenario. Person A finds out about person B and they unexpectedly fall in love with each other and all that. Person A is in danger and person B tries to come to the rescue, but is too late. Person A dies for the love they have for each other, only to prove the death in vain, because person B follows person A to death.

Maddie highly doubted that any of these scenarios would happen. Although, she was leaning towards her fourth.

Fourth scenario is the shortest. Person A accidentally walks in on something that persons B, C, D, and E are doing. They abduct person A into a car, drive that person far away from where they were as possible, and the four persons kill person A without further delay.

Oh, jeez.

The hummer finally pulled to a stop in front of a large, barb-wired gate—a wire that resembled the one that kept prisoners in jail. Dead trees loomed across the lawn, creating such an odd contrast, since the grass was still green and alive. It was the only thing that looked alive around the area. The large house behind it was colored in a menacing gray, some paint almost peeling off. It looked like it would have been beautiful once, but time has aged the house. All windows and blinds were shut from the house, probably making it dark inside.

She followed the rest of the boys out when they got out of the car. She honestly didn't know how she felt when they began leading her towards the house. Maddie widened her eyes comically when the sound of a shotgun rang out from above her.

They really were going to kill her.

"It's me, Gorman!" Caleb yelled, his hands covered around his mouth. He smiled apologetically at Maddie. "Sorry about him. He's a bit nearsighted."

Maddie sniffed. "Why would you give a nearsighted man a gun?"

Caleb laughed, shrugging. "No idea."

Not as she expected, they didn't go inside the house. They went around the house, towards the back. Maddie glanced curiously at one of the windows, feeling someone's gaze on her. An old-looking man stood behind the glass of the window, eyeing her with wariness. That must be Gorman. She willed herself to turn away, catching up with the boys. When she approached them, she found Caleb pulling on a handle that was attached to the ground. Seconds later, she realized the handle wasn't attached to the ground, but it was a secret door that led underground.

A spiral of stairs that cascaded into darkness met her eyes. The walls underground were made out of thick stone, and the steps of the stairs led further and further down the underground. Maddie was completely blind all over when the stairs ended. A blanket of black was everywhere. Her blended with the darkness, only for it to disappear as candles started lighting by themselves, one by one.

With the light on, Maddie figured that she was in a cave-like room. Ancient bookcases filled with thousands of transcripts, scrolls, and thickly bound books filled the walls of the place. Four wooden chairs were evenly spaced out from the middle of the room. Engraved on the floor of the center of the room was a large, Pagan Wicca star. With a surge of feeling, a fire was lit, suspended in the air on top of the star. She felt clueless when each of the four boys took their own chair respectively.

Tyler, noticing she was left out, softened his features. "You can sit in my chair if you want to," he offered, just about ready to stand up.

"No, it's alright," she immediately protested. Who was she to take someone else's chair? "I'll just…" she paused, looking around thoughtfully. She glanced at a spacious spot on the floor, near one of the points of the star. "I'll just sit on the floor."

As she moved to that spot, a second from plopping herself down and crossing her legs Indian-style, a hand shot out and pulled on her elbow. Where she had been standing, she was now sitting on something. An arm looped around her, creating a barrier for her as she squirmed in this new place. A deep chuckle in her ear was all she needed to know that she was sitting in Reid's lap.

"Relax, will you?" Reid let out when Maddie hadn't stopped moving.

"I can't," she argued, glaring at him. "Why am I here?" she directed this question to all of the boys.

"You've heard the story of the Five Families, haven't you?" Caleb started, eyes boring into hers.

Maddie stopped squirming in her seat, finally calming against Reid's body. "Well, I've heard bits and bits. All I know is that you guys are descendents of witches or something like that."

"We're not only descendents," Caleb shook his head. "We're like them."

"You mean you're witches?"

_"Warlocks,"_ Reid grumbled from behind her.

"Can you show me?" she asked them, quietly demanding the proof.

They didn't hesitate, not like she thought they would. The three younger boys turned to their leader, Caleb, and nodded at him. Caleb, in return, let his eyes glow black like she had seen in the alleyway earlier. He focused on one spot of the bookcase, and she watched in fascination as one large book came floating out from the shelf and into the air, on top of the fire below. The pages of parchment began flipping, searching for the right page. So she really wasn't just imagining things. There really was a floating book in the air, pages turning on its own accord.

They really were magical.

Maddie's eyes drifted from the floating book and back towards Caleb's black eyes. "And you guys always had these powers?"

Caleb nodded. "We get a taste of it at thirteen. We ascend, meaning we fully get our power, at the age of eighteen. When we use our power too much, our body starts to age. It's tempting to us. If we get too addicted, we can't ever stop it," at this, he glanced heatedly at Reid, who snorted in return.

"But shouldn't there be a fifth boy?" she tilted her head to the side inquiringly. "There's only four of you."

"The fifth family was named the Putnams. John Putnam had been easily swayed by the power. He made an excuse with our ancestors that obtaining more power would bring the five families superiority to other families, but they all knew that Putnam was only lusting for the power for himself. He was seized one day and was the last person to be hanged in accusation for being a witch in Salem. That's where the Putnam bloodline ends. After John Putnam was hanged, the four families swore an oath to create a Covenant of Silence."

"Oh," she nodded her head in realization. "Who determines who get the power?"

Pogue spoke up this time. "In every generation of our families, the eldest male always gets the power. And usually, the eldest males are always the first-borns in the families."

"No girls?"

"Nope," Reid replied, grinning slyly at her. "Disappointed?"

Maddie rolled her eyes. "So you've never told anyone about these powers before?" When they shook their heads at her, she couldn't help but think: _Don't I feel special? _She glanced at Pogue, "Not even Kate?"

"I've tried to, believe me," he told her dejectedly. The matter was a touchy subject for him. "I'm worried how she'd react when I do tell her."

In Maddie's opinion, she didn't think it mattered. She's seen the way Kate looks at Pogue. It's not the everyday teenage lust you see in her pools, but deeper than that. Kate stares at Pogue as if she'd be willing to do anything for him. Pogue's lucky to have a girl like her, even though she didn't voice this thought out loud. That kind of love is quite difficult to find nowadays.

"So that's it then?" she asked. "You kidnap me here just to tell me the truth?"

"What did you think we were going to do with you?" Tyler's eyebrows rose slightly.

"Erm, _well, _I thought you guys were going kill me."

Maddie huffed when the Sons burst out laughing, all at the same time. They didn't plan on stopping either. After a while, she softened before her own laughs started erupting from her mouth. She was too busy laughing, she didn't notice the pair of arms stiffen across her waist, blue eyes hardening discreetly.

* * *

One week.

It had been nearly one week when Reid started to avoid her.

She wasn't really that clueless when it came to matters like that. His absence was starting to irritate her. At first, she thought it was just a personal problem of his, but then he started to disappear frequently whenever she happened to be around. Maddie had even felt a sting of hurt whenever she watched his retreating back. Her elementary-centered thought had her thinking that he didn't 'like' her anymore, and maybe that was the reason he stopped hanging out with her. Now she just felt indifferent about the whole thing.

Maddie noticed it on the first day. Usually, he'd be around her lockers, and he'd walk her to her first period class together. One would have thought that he was being chivalrous, walking a girl to her class, but that same person would have thought differently once that person knew what the blonde Son seemed to be conversing about. Most of the time, their conversations were hilarious, in a perverted sort of way, and occasionally, he'd bring in the horniness. Yet, she enjoyed talking with him.

When he wasn't there, she didn't react as though the whole world was going to end. Sure, it piqued her curiosity, but she didn't let it get to her head. Lunchtime was what had hinted her. She could definitely sense a tense feeling a mile away, and she was surprised that feeling was coming from Reid. He barely spoke to her. He also managed to sit as far away from her as possible.

In History, she didn't spot his blonde hair anywhere. He had ditched.

"He's just going through something," Katherine reassured her, stuffing her things in her bag.

"Like what?" Maddie shot back, frown settling in. "What problems could he be going through?"

Katherine smiled softly. "A lot of things. You know the old saying: 'There's more to someone than meets the eye'. He could be dealing with some personal demons."

"I could help him. He's just not letting me."

"Maybe it's something he has to do alone."

"This whole avoiding thing started after I—" Maddie paused, catching herself before making a huge mistake. She clamped her mouth shut, a thin firm line spreading.

"After 'you' what?" Katherine furrowed her eyebrows.

_After I accidentally found out that the Sons of Ipswich are really what the stories say they are, and that they're really magical warlocks that can do anything that seemed impossible, but if they used too much of their power, their bodies would start to age, _Maddie thought grimly. She really wanted to tell Katherine (she didn't like keeping secrets from her best friend), but she swore to the Sons that she would keep her word, and that was what she would do. She'd carry it to her grave if she had to.

"After I almost kissed him."

Why did she say that?

Katherine had gasped, and Maddie would have laughed if she hadn't been too busy in her thoughts. "You _what_? You almost kissed who?"

"Who else?"

_"Reid Garwin?" _

"Yeah," Maddie replied. "We almost kissed. Almost. Don't forget that word."

"Who cares?" Katherine squealed excitedly, causing Mr. Kantor, their History professor, to look in the girls' direction. "Tell me, tell me! When did this happen?"

And so, in two minutes, Maddie retold the whole story. Unlike most people, Maddie told her everything, not leaving one single detail out—well, the important ones anyway. She talked about the bet, they way he stopped himself from kissing her, and the way she had intended on running after him. She had stopped there, not getting any further.

"He didn't kiss you?" Katherine seemed genuinely shocked. "That's a first."

Maddie rolled her eyes, lips turning. "There's always a first for everything when it involves me and Reid. You point it out every time."

"Very true. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe he's changing for you."

"Wrong." When Katherine sent her a heated look, Maddie merely shrugged, giving her an award-winning smile. "You did say to correct you if you're wrong."

"Maddie, are you blind? Reid's a totally different person now than he was before he met you."

She shook her head. "I think he's still the same. He never ceases in making a perverted comment whenever we talked." _Had _talked was more like it.

"Well, that's because this is Reid we're talking about. That's something you can never take away from him," both girls shared a laugh at that. "But he never looks at another girl in a lusty way anymore. He stopped flirting with anything that has a big chest and a busty behind," Katherine faltered as Maddie listened intently. The hazel-eyed girl widened her eyes, mouth forming an 'O'. She stared at Maddie in alarm.

"What?" Maddie questioned when those hazel eyes didn't waver from her face.

A Cheshire smile spread across her face. "He's in love with you."

The sound of a pin dropping could be heard through the silence.

Maddie reached over to pat Katherine's shoulder fondly. "It's okay. I know you can be a little delusional sometimes—"

"He's in love with you."

"Obviously, stress is starting to build up in you, since it is senior year after all. We have to worry about college applications, focusing on our future car—"

"He's in love with you."

"And then we worry about getting into the college we want to go—"

"He's in love with you."

"Would you stop saying that?"

Katherine placed her hands on Maddie's shoulders, gripping it before she shook the small girl in front of her. That smile had never left Katherine's face. "He. Is. In. Love. With. You," she told Maddie slowly, as if she was speaking to a toddler.

"Can't a boy and girl be _friends_ without having people assuming that they're going to be in a relationship later on?"

Her friend's smile turned to smirk. "Not in this century."

Maddie sighed. "He's not in love with me."

"Yes, he is."

"No, he's not."

"Yes, he is."

"Not."

"Is."

"Miss Bennett? Miss Fitzgerald?" Mr. Kantor called from across the room. The two girls were the only students left in the room, and their little argument could be heard from where he was sitting at his desk. "Could you girls come over here for a second?"

"Sure, Mr. Kantor," Maddie sent a smile of victory towards Katherine, glad that their argument had been stopped from getting too far. Both girls trudged down the stairs and onwards to his desk. "What do you need, sir?" she asked politely.

Mr. Kantor folded his fingers under his chin, elbows on desk. "You girls hang out with Mr. Garwin, right?"

When Maddie didn't answer, Katherine nodded. "Occasionally. Why, sir?"

"Can one of you girls would do me a favor and give Mr. Garwin his test results? I'd give it to him myself, but obviously, he wasn't in class today."

"I'll do it," Maddie offered, accepting the piece of paper in her hand. This would give her a good enough excuse to go right up to his face and demand what everything was about. Her eyes widened when she saw the score on his test. It was a ninety-eight percent. "He got an A?"

"It's not nice looking at other people's grades," Katherine reprimanded, although she peeked over Maddie's shoulder to take a look herself. "Oh, my god," she let out, seeing the red 'A' on top of Reid's paper.

"Shocking, isn't it?" Mr. Kantor chuckled. "In contrast to how he behaves in class?"

That was why Reid was able to get away with so many things. The teachers gave Reid a fair warning whenever the boy made a comment, or managed to make the class crackle with laughter, but they never threatened him to the provost's office. They let him act like a rebel in class, let him refuse to do classwork, let him even sleep in class, all because they knew that no matter how the boy had tried to entertain himself, he'd still learn at the same time. They let him do all that, because Reid would score extremely high on his tests

"He's actually intelligent," Katherine murmured in awe.

"Don't sound too surprised," Maddie chided.

"Hey, you sounded pretty surprised too."

"I guess I did, but I always knew there was more to him. I didn't think it would be school-wise."

A crown of blonde hair was spotted among the crowd. It was so easy to find Reid in a pact hallway, with his signature hair. The moment they saw it, Katherine cupped her mouth and yelled out his name. The blonde boy turned; however, once his blue eyes landed on Maddie, he stiffened on the spot. A moment passed between them, the minutes full of staring at one another. He then spun around quickly, brushing them off.

"You're right. He really is in love with me," Maddie retorted sarcastically.

"He is," Katherine pressed on eagerly. "He just doesn't know it yet."

That evening, Maddie lied on her bed, staring at Reid's test paper.

She contemplated on when she should give it to him. She'd have to do it sooner or later. Her body was sprawled out lazily, head lolling to the side of the bed, as she watched Katherine get ready for her date tonight. She glanced at the test paper before flinging it to the side of her bed, hands folded across her flat stomach.

"Who is this guy anyway? How come I've never met him?"

Katherine snorted loudly. "Yeah. Like I'd let him meet _you_."

"That sent a prick to my heart, Kat. It really did," Maddie replied, a hand flying to her chest.

Her friend observed herself in the mirror. Katherine wore dark, skin-hugging jeans, a long-sleeved white and black checkered shirt with the top buttons opened to show a white tank top inside. A black belt was looped around her midriff, on top of her shirt. She wore black gladiator sandals, and her brown hair was curled to perfection.

"Does this belt make me look fat?" Katherine asked, eyeing her form from the side.

Maddie rolled her golden eyes. "For the seventy-fifth time, that belt does not make you look fat."

"Says the girl who doesn't even have a single ounce of fat on her body," Katherine's eyes narrowed at Maddie's stick-skinny structure.

"Oh, shush."

Comfortable silence washed over them, as Katherine continued to look at herself in the mirror, while Maddie let her eyelids flutter close. She let out a deep breath, relaxing against the comforter. If life was always this relaxing, her life would have been so much easier. Much to her own annoyance, her eyes peeled open, just to glance once more at Reid's test paper. Even in her time of peace she couldn't stop thinking about him.

So annoying.

Well, here goes nothing.

"I'm going," Maddie stated, reaching down to put on her shoes.

Katherine whirled around. "Where are you going?"

"To give Reid his test back. I'm sick of looking at the stupid piece of paper."

"Ah," Katherine drawled lightly, grinning. "Someone was thinking about him, wasn't she?"

"Have fun on your date," Maddie smiled in mock sweetness, closing the door behind her right after she heard Katherine's laugh through the door.

She waltzed around the hall, going through a number of corridors and unfamiliar stairways before she reached where Reid and Tyler's supposed dorm room was supposed to be. Her hand clutched the test paper, and as she came to the door, she couldn't move from her spot. She must have looked like an idiot, staring at the door. Shaking her head, she didn't know why she came here in the first place. Maddie made up her mind to turn back, hoping that Katherine had already left so that she wouldn't have someone pester her when she came back.

"Looking for something?"

Maddie halted at the tone. Ever so slowly, she turned to the right, freezing when she spotted him only a couple feet away. He had just gotten out of the showers—a white towel wrapped loosely around his waist, water dripping from his blonde hair, dripping down the smooth plane of his skin, and down the hardened muscles of his abdomen. Her eyes were captivated on this one drop that was making its way down his arm. His tattooed arm.

"Like what you see?" Reid asked, smirking at her.

"I didn't know you had a tattoo," was her only response. There wasn't only one, but three. Two on his left: one on his bicep and the other along arm; and the last tattoo was one his right forearm. She didn't know why, but something ignited inside her when she saw those tattoos. It was odd, considering she was never one to favor tattoos.

She noticed him staring at her, waiting for her to speak. "Oh, here's your test," she snapped out of her daze, handing the piece of paper to him.

He took it. "Thanks," he nodded curtly at her, maneuvering himself around her to disappear on the other side of the door that was to his room.

"Wait," her hand reached out to his wrist. She felt him hardened, and she quickly let go. "Sorry."

"What do you want?"

His tone caused her to get irritated. "Why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not avoiding you."

"Really?" Maddie couldn't help but laugh sardonically. "You call 'ignoring me and disappearing whenever I'm around' not avoiding me?"

Reid's jaw clenched visibly, his hands fisting tightly behind his back. "I don't have to explain myself to you," he told her coldly.

"What did I do?"

That question caught him off guard. "What?"

"What did I do?" she repeated, a forlorn expression crossing her face. Maddie missed it when Reid flinched in distress at the sight of her sad face. She was too busy figuring out what he was doing. "I promise you, Tyler, Caleb, and Pogue that I wouldn't tell."

"That's not what this is about," Reid stifled a sigh.

"Then what—"

"We shouldn't be friends," he cut in, eyes narrowed at her.

Maddie pursed her lips in frustration. "Why not?"

The next part happened so fast.

She was suddenly slammed against the wall, arms pinned on either side of her head as his hands gripped her wrists hardly. A knee was wedged between her small thighs, and his body was pressed so closely to hers, the friction of heat rising between them. He was close enough that some water from his hair trickled down and touched her cheek softly, the drop sliding down smoothly. His head was tilted towards her in a dangerously close manner, his pupils dilated and his cerulean eyes darker than ever.

He pressed his lips roughly to hers, teeth nipping at her lips before he slipped his tongue inside her mouth. Her hands stopped fidgeting in his grip, her own tongue dueling with his for dominance as their mouths fused together. Teeth scraped against the other once or twice, but they found that they didn't care. Reid growled into the kiss, making it deeper as he held her more firmly to the wall.

Maddie made a soft sound when his hand slipped under her shirt, his fingers dancing along the skin of her stomach. In that moment, she truly felt trapped, as though she couldn't breathe, as though this wasn't really happening. But it was. If he had bothered to let her hands go, they'd be running all over his hair. This kiss—him and her, it felt _right_. It felt like they were built to do this.

Reid slowly pulled back, his hazy eyes coming to rest on her mouth. Her pink, utterly tasteful lips were looking thoroughly bruised. He pressed a short kiss to her mouth for a couple of seconds, before pulling away. He gave her a second kiss, then a third. On the fourth, his tongue ran over her bottom lip, massaging it softly. On the fifth, his lips collided with hers hardly once more, bruising her lips all over again. He had waited to kiss her all this time, waited to taste her on how delicious she simply looked.

He wretched himself away from him quickly, stepping away from her. He was met with a pair of golden, confused eyes, her face matching as well. Reid said nothing more as he opened his dorm room and closed it firmly behind him, leaving the girl outside. He slid to the floor, not really wanting to move anywhere else. He was angry with himself. He almost took Maddie out there against the wall like a common _whore_.

The blonde Son had told himself many times that she was different, and Maddie proved to him that she was. Cliché as it was, she wasn't like most girls. At least, she wasn't like most girls he'd been acquainted with anyway. She was better than all of them. Reid smiled when he thought of Maddie. He always seem to do that now.

He was in love with her.


	5. Save Me

She distinctly tasted copper in her mouth.

Maddie pressed a finger to the corner of her lips, bemused that she felt a certain wetness pooling there. Detaching her finger from her lips, she blinked at the drop of blood that was planted on her digit. Her tongue instinctively went to that bruised corner, licking the spot, causing a small sting to erupt there. She didn't think they kissed _that_ hard.

The closed door in front of her was the only barrier between her and the blonde boy inside the room. She knew how to pick locks, she could storm in there right now and demand what the hell that was about. But then he'd look at her with those lusty, blue eyes of his and she'd forget why she had gone in there in the first place. She'd lose all thoughts that were even close to being sensible or reasonable, and she would react without really thinking. And then she'd figure out that the only thing she wanted to demand from him was another kiss.

The pale girl stared at the door for another moment before she backtracked slowly, exiting the level. She didn't know where she was heading, but she was letting go of all attachments to her mind and just going. It might have been thirty minutes, or it might have been five. She kept walking until she reached the steps that led up to the front Spenser and she allowed her form to drop down the last of the stone steps.

At that moment, she remembered Katherine's earlier words firing back at her.

"_How can you _not_ be into him?"_

And then her friend hinted other clues.

"_Very true. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe he's changing for you." _

"_Wrong." When Katherine sent her a heated look, Maddie merely shrugged, giving her an award-winning smile. "You did say to correct you if you're wrong." _

"_Maddie, are you blind? Reid's a totally different person now than he was before he met you." _

She made an irritated noise, pressing the heel of her hand to her forehead. This was what happened when she thought too much on one thing. Maddie remembered that during the first few weeks of school, she had pointedly told Katherine that she would not fall for the playboy of Spenser. She even denied Katherine's accusations of her secretly liking Reid. Maddie had been the only girl able to resist Reid Garwin's charms.

Not anymore.

Damn.

She _liked_ him.

She couldn't wait to tell her loving, eco-friendly scientists of parents that she had fallen for a rich, tattooed all over, bad-ass rebel that was also known to be a notorious player with the ladies. Oh, did she forget to mention that he was a warlock?

A tap on her shoulder shook her. "Maddie?"

Maddie fought the urge to jump. If she had, she would have been kissing the ground by now. "Tyler, don't do that," she told him, hand repeatedly hitting her temple.

"Sorry," Tyler chuckled, plopping himself down next to her.

"Make yourself at home."

He would have laughed, if wasn't for the tiredness that was etched into her tone. The youngest Son sobered, stretching out until he lay sprawled out on the steps. "Reid told me what happened," he looked up at the girl.

"He told you?" A brow lifted.

"Well, I forced it out of him."

"You guys are like girls," Maddie laughed, ignoring the indignant look on Tyler's face. "Katherine does the same thing to me whenever she wants to know something," her eyes narrowed when the boy straightened up at the mentioning of Katherine's name. "Tyler, do you like her?"

Tyler blushed. "I barely know her."

"So?"

"Anyway," he cut in, feeling more heat creep up to his cheeks, "don't you want to know why Reid's been distant with you lately?"

"Is he like bipolar or something? Because one moment he's sweet and charming, and the next he's cold."

"He's got a reason for acting like that."

Maddie turned to him. "Like what?" she asked, and when Tyler hesitated, she pressed the subject further, "Come on, Tyler. You can tell me."

A minute passed. Then two. "Do not tell Reid I told you," he muttered, leaning his head closer to hers. His voice was low and quiet, as though he feared someone would be nearby to overhear them, but it was clear that they were the only two people outside the campus at the moment. "He would kill me if he knew I told you. What I say cannot be repeated to anyone else."

"Okay," she nodded. She wouldn't tell if it was this serious.

Tyler sighed. "Reid's afraid of getting hurt."

A crease formed between her brows at the information. "Huh?" was all she could manage. That was odd. Reid was afraid of getting hurt? The way the blonde Son carried himself, it was as though he wasn't afraid of anything.

"He is. I know it doesn't seem like he is, but it's the truth," Tyler said, blue eyes focused on the ground. He knew Reid better than anyone else. He was his best friend after all. "When he was younger, his father had hurt him. It was almost too many times to keep count of."

Maddie's butterscotch eyes widened. "His father abused him?"

"Not in the way you think. His father was never around to care for Reid. Whenever it was Reid's birthday, his father would promise to be there, but he wouldn't hold that promise. His father would never come, and the only thing Reid received from him was a birthday card and some expensive toy. Mr. Garwin would promise to come and Reid would always wait for him. This happened so often, you would have thought that Reid stopped believing in him."

"But he still waited?" Maddie's heart tendered at the thought of a sad, younger Reid.

"He still waited," Tyler repeated, nodding. "Reid finally understood what was going on when he turned ten. He didn't let anyone else in after that."

"What about his mom?"

"Oh, he loves his mother. She was probably the only person that could get him to listen," Tyler smiled fondly, memories of their childhood coming back to him. "She's the only person he had respect for. But after the things his father had said and done, he left his mother out sometimes," he stared back at Maddie, his eyes boring into hers. "With Reid acting the way he is, I understand how you would feel, but don't give up on him. You may not realize this, but you've changed him."

She didn't falter. "I know," she replied, and at Tyler's surprised expression, she explained, "Katherine tells me the same thing everyday."

"Really?"

"Why the sudden interest? Is it because I mentioned Katherine?"

Tyler shook his head, a chuckle managing to escape from him. "Nothing gets past you, Maddie."

"You're right," Maddie agreed, eyes brightening in her own sense of awe.

"Reid's happier when he's around you." Tyler's words pierced her.

Now it was her turn to blush.

"You like him," he observed, a shit-eating plastered on his face.

"Yeah," Maddie mumbled. "I just figured it out today."

"Then it all works out then."

"You know what this reminds me of? A fairytale, only the roles are switched. It's like Reid's the damsel in distress, needing to be saved, and I'm his Prince Charming or something like that."

Tyler snorted before he burst out laughing. "Don't tell that to Reid," he gasped out, holding his side. "What I'd give to see his face when he finds out he's being referred to a damsel in distress," his face turned serious again, mouth setting into a frown. "I think you can save him."

"Didn't I promise you I would?"

"It'll be hard. He'll push you away at first. Maybe you can stop his addiction as well."

"To power?"

"Yeah."

Maddie was horrified at the thought. She remembered all she was told that they when they had taken her to the colony house. Addiction meant too much power, and that also meant aging faster. She didn't know Reid as an addict. Nevertheless, she was going to stop this addiction.

She'd be damned if Reid aged faster than her ninety-five year old grandpa did.

* * *

"Hey, Maddie!"

The golden-eyed girl turned around, smiling at who she saw. "Hi, Michael."

The tall boy in front of her grinned down at her. Michael Shepherd was a good-looking boy with old-fashioned, yet handsome features. His brunette hair fell over his green eyes and it slightly curled at the ends, the grin he had on stretched out his strong jaw. His build was defined and he had strong arms. He was the captain of the baseball team. He stood before her, his hands shoveled into the pockets of the black slacks of Spenser's uniform. She could see his baseball teammates, also his friends, standing not too far away, identical smiles on their faces.

Michael shuffled his feet in a nervous manner. "Erm, how are you?"

"I'm fine," she responded, head tilted up. "How are you?"

"I'm good, everything's good," he stopped himself from rambling. Maddie had to bite back a grin. A nervous Michael was actually quite sweet to look at. When he saw Maddie's bright face, his nerves calmed down a bit. "Today's Friday," he blurted out.

He wanted to slap himself. Seriously? _Today's Friday_?

But Maddie thought otherwise. She thought it was adorable. "I'm well aware of that," she bit her lip, preventing another smile. She didn't want to make him feel even worse.

"So, what do you usually do on Fridays?"

Smooth. Real smooth.

"I usually go to Nicky's." Since she became friends with the Sons, they forced her to go, along with Katherine, Sarah, and Kate.

"All the time?"

"Why?"

"I was wondering if…" he trailed off, an inner turmoil fighting within him.

"If…?" she prodded.

Michael tapped his foot against the ground, a hopeful look on his face. "I was wondering if," he started again, "you'd go out with me tonight?"

"Oh, I—" she stopped in her sentence. She hadn't been expecting that.

"I'm sorry it's on short notice," he apologized swiftly, staring solemnly at her.

"No, it's alright," Maddie reassured. "It's just—um, well…how do I say this?" she added, the last part more to herself rather than to Michael.

His shoulders slumped forward. "You're busy."

Maddie looked at him thoughtfully. "Kind of, but not really. I mean, I can go to Nicky's anytime. It has nothing to do with you, Brandon, I swear. This is all me."

"You like someone else, don't you?"

"Am I that obvious?"

Michael started to laugh. "Maybe just a little."

She let out a chuckle, joining in on his laughter. "I really am sorry."

"Nah," he shook his head, arguing with her. "Don't be. I was just a little too late," he smiled at her, letting her know that his feelings weren't hurt. "He's a lucky guy."

Maddie smiled. "Thank you."

"Well, isn't this a _pretty_ picture?"

She froze at the voice. Reid.

"Garwin," Michael acknowledged, nodding his head slowly at the blonde boy, "do you need something?"

"Nope." His mouth popped at the 'p'.

Michael met the sudden intruder's blue eyes, and he was surprised to find possessiveness there. It was clearly there, surrounded by the calm ire of his. He had known that Garwin had become a close friend of Maddie's, but the term 'possessiveness' didn't' exactly fit on friendly terms. They seemed more than that. Could it be that Garwin actually held some feelings over her? Was it possible that Garwin was the lucky guy he had mentioned earlier?

"I'll see you later then?" he turned to Maddie.

"See you later."

She watched as the captain of the baseball team turned around in his track, making his way back to his friends. Michael shoved his hands into his pockets again, only shrugging at his teammates. At the gesture, the boys either groaned or put on sympathetic faces for their captain. For some reason, Maddie found the notion rather amusing, when she should have been feeling bad for turning a guy down. That feeling left, however, as she whirled to face Reid.

"What's wrong with you?" She wasn't angry. Or at least, she tried not to sound angry. This was the first time in days Reid was initiating to talk with her first, and not the other way around.

His eyes narrowed at her in accusation. "Did I embarrass you in front of your little boyfriend? Oh, cry me a fucking river," he spat lowly.

"He's not my boyfriend," she instantly responded.

"You like him," Reid tilted his head, peering closer to look at her. The closer he was, the more Maddie could see the darkness in his eyes. "You actually like him."

"Wha—like—" she sputtered in surprise. "We barely know each other! How can I like him? You know what; I'm the last person here that needs to explain anything."

"Don't try to change the subject."

"What are we even talking about?" She had managed to get herself confused. "First you're all nice to me, and then you're a pervert, then you avoid me, then you kiss me, and now you're here yelling at me? Seriously, Reid, do you have a personality disorder?"

Reid was tense at her words. Because all of it was right. "So just because I'm suddenly unavailable means that you can run to some other boy's arms? You move quickly, don't you?"

"Is that what this is about?" Maddie let out a laugh, eyes trained to the ceiling of the hallway. "You're _jealous._ You're jealous of Michael."

"I'm not jealous of _Shepherd_," his head snapped up, his voice unsteady as it was angry.

Maddie bit the inside of her cheek, eyes boring into his. "So you don't mind if I go out with Michael then?"

His jaw clenched. She could see it. "No," he finally managed out.

That was a lie.

He knew it.

She knew it.

"Stop lying," Maddie demanded from him. "It's really easy. All you have to do is tell me you were jealous."

"I won't tell you that because I'm not." Another lie.

"Liar," she stated. Something flickered in her butterscotch-colored eyes. "I knew you were many things, Reid. I just didn't think you'd be a liar as well."

His knuckles turned white. God, he wanted to punch something. "You should have known what you were getting yourself into."

_You really are my damsel in distress,_ Maddie suddenly realized, looking past the flame in his cerulean eyes. _You _do_ need to be saved. Why can't you just ask for help?_

"I don't want to fight with you," she finally told him, looking at his handsome, angry face.

That made him even more furious. She was already holding up the white flag. That wasn't like her at all. Reid glared at her with hard eyes, assessing her face, trying to detect anything. It unnerved him to find out that there was nothing. He shook his head to himself, thinking how insane this all was. He didn't say anything more to her. He was just so full of anger. He was angry at the fact that he was angry at her, and that made absolutely no sense. He turned away from her abruptly, not sparing her another glance.

He didn't notice or feel the eyes trained on his back. Maddie stared after him solemnly, a determined expression fixed onto her pale face.

She would save him. She didn't care how she'd do it, but she would.

She'd be his Prince Charming.

Day turned into night and exactly at seven-fifteen on the dot, Maddie strolled into Nicky's. She was always the last arrival of her group to come in, seeing as she liked to walk to the bar place, rather than drive there. Her friends were already pre-occupied on what they always did, so that left her wondering what to do.

A boy appeared to the right of her side. He had sandy brown hair, matched with a pair of sea-green eyes. He had a nice face. His name was Chase Collins. Maddie vaguely remembered him transferring in the same time Sarah did.

"I'm Chase," he grinned, holding out his hand.

Maddie took it, shaking it with a gentle squeeze. "Maddie. So, do you like Spenser so far?"

"Oh, definitely," he nodded. "The campus is amazing."

"That's exactly what I thought the first time I saw this place."

"There you are!" a new voice called out to her. "I've been looking for you everywhere! You know, you should get a car, Maddie. You're always late for everything."

"Hey, Katherine," Maddie smiled blithely.

Katherine appeared at the pale girl's side. "Chase," she smiled in a greeting at the boy.

"How 'bout I buy you girls some drinks?" he offered, head tilted over at the bar. "My treat."

"What a gentleman," Katherine mused, elbow digging into Maddie's side to prove her point.

"Agreed," Maddie replied smoothly, as the three headed over to the bar.

As she walked, something in the distance caught her eye. Sitting at a table a distant away, Reid sat, his face set in its usual boredom. On his lap sat a perky girl, with bouncy, blonde curls streaming down her face and down her back. She was nuzzling his neck closely, her fingers running up and down his forearm. Even though Reid's face was that of indifference, it still stung to see him with another girl.

Maddie quickly turned away right at the moment his eyes found hers. She made a beeline towards the bar, sitting herself on the stool on Katherine's side. She ordered a nice glass of cool water, making sure to tell the server to add a couple pounds of cold ice in there.

"Are you hot, Maddie?" Katherine asked with a smirk, observing the glass of clear water with mountains of crushed ice in there. "Pun intended."

"Har har," Maddie grumbled, drowning herself in the water.

Katherine turned to Chase after taking a sip of her drink. "What school did you transfer from?"

"Hastings," Chase replied. "I'd have to say Spenser is much more advanced."

"It's the top high school in all Massachusetts," Katherine spoke casually. At Chase's inquiring look and at Maddie's raised brow, she shrugged. "What? Can't I be prideful of my school?"

Chase only laughed, but Maddie didn't answer. She risked another peek in that direction, looking over her shoulder.

The curly blonde's lips were attached to Reid's, tongues clashing heavily. Her eyes trailed to where his hands were, watching as he gripped the curly blonde's thigh demurely. Maddie hid herself behind her glass of water when Reid pulled both of them to their feet. The curly blonde haired girl immediately buried herself at Reid's side, a smug grin on her face as if telling everyone who was watching that she was the luckiest girl in the world.

Maddie averted her gaze, taking another gulp of her water when Reid's head snapped in her direction. A muscle clenched in her jaw when she sensed his eyes on her, taking her in. She can vaguely hear Katherine and Chase conversing beside her, but paid no attention to it. When she looked back up again, both Reid and the blonde girl had disappeared.

Why did Reid keep looking over in her direction?

Was he trying to make her jealous?

Maddie snorted at the idea. They were never the ideal couple to begin with anyhow. All they did was share a simple kiss outside his dorm room. She bet he's probably done that with many other girls before she was in the picture. Still, she felt something snap inside of her, just by watching that curly blonde girl throw herself at Reid.

Maybe she should move back to Dillon. It may have been boring there, but at least there wasn't any drama.

Outside in the alleyway, Reid eased a willing blonde to the wall. His hands started snaking under her shirt, nipping onto her neck. Immediately, something bothered him. This girl's neck reeked of too much perfume. It wasn't natural. It didn't smell like honey and apples like…_her_ neck. Her neck smelled natural— he'd know. He ignored that budding feeling in his gut. Why was he thinking about her in a time like this? Why should he care? The girl's probably already scheduled a date with that Shepherd guy.

The thought of that made his blood boil hard, but the kisses from the girl beneath him made him forget. This girl, whatever her name was, kissed him without hesitation. It was then he noticed that she had too much of that glossy stuff on her lips. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered him since he's kissed many girls with that same glossy thing, but this time, it got to him. Reid coveted for smooth lips, one that was delicately pink and untouched.

Again, that led to thinking about _her_.

His hand trailed over to the blonde girl's back, fingering the strap that held her bra together. Another hand reached up and buried itself in her blonde, curly tresses. As his hand glided over the girl's hair strands, he noticed they weren't as soft as they looked. The hair was dry, indicating that it was either bleached or dyed unnaturally. It didn't have a shiny complexion and it didn't feel like silk.

This girl had too much make-up in her face. Sure, it might have enhanced her features more, and it might have turned on a couple of guys, but now that Reid thought about it, unnecessary make-up made her look like a clown. The girl was oddly proportioned too. Her over-sized breasts looked awkward with her slender waist. Her big brown eyes looked up at him with lush, surrounded by mascara-coated eyelashes. With a look like that, he would have taken her already, no questions asked. But he wasn't attracted to brown eyes.

He wanted gold eyes. He wanted a natural face. He wanted a girl who smelled of honey and apples instead of expensive perfume. He wanted a pale complexion instead of one that was spray-tanned. He wanted a girl with a thin, fragile-like body—one he could easily hold and protect, instead of one that was shaped like a curvy battle axe.

He wanted something real, not something that was fake all over.

"Stop," he growled, pushing himself away from the wall, away from her. He cursed to himself quietly, wiping his mouth with the edge of his sleeve.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked, oblivious to how irritated Reid was. Her glossy lips formed into a pout, as her eyes sultrily pleaded with Reid. "We were having fun," she murmured making a grab for his arm.

Reid shifted away from her. "Not in the mood. Sorry," he winced at how harsh he sounded. After all, it wasn't fully the blonde girl's fault. He had a hand in this, readily seducing her when he wanted to.

He left the blonde girl at the wall, as she struggled to hold her shirt together. When he entered Nicky's again, he went for Tyler. Judging by the dark look in the blonde boy's eyes, Tyler didn't say anything. It was like a wordless connection between them. Nodding, the two boys left for the pool table.

"Wow," Katherine gasped for breath, coming out of a laughing fit. "Jeez, Maddie!"

Maddie let out a laugh as she looked down modestly. "It's the truth."

Chase was laughing also. "You really went to a gay bar?"

"Yep," Maddie looked a bit amused by the idea, but it had actually happened in her life. "One of my friends was gay at the time, and she wanted to try to go to a gay bar. She didn't want to go alone, so I offered to go with her."

"Offered?" Katherine repeated with a snort. "Yeah, that sounds like something you would do."

"Anyway," Maddie cut in, rolling her eyes. "When I got there, I found out that it looked like a regular bar. I mean, there was food, there was a dance floor, and there were people. The only difference was that people of the same sex were grinding with each other."

Katherine and Chase chuckled again. They couldn't help it.

It was the way Maddie said it. She sounded funny.

"Don't tell me a girl tried to pick you up," Katherine was shocked when Maddie remained silent. The hazel-eyed girl put a hand over her mouth, stifling her laughter. "Oh, my god. Seriously?"

"It wasn't her fault," Maddie argued, much to the other two teen's mirth. "The girl didn't know I was straight. She—" Maddie didn't know if she should let this information go. "She was very straightforward, you know? One moment we were talking…"

"_I can't wait to get out of Dillon," Maddie muttered, tapping her feet against the floor. _

_The girl, Anna, grinned at her. "Not a fan of this town?" _

"_Not really. I was never a football fan to begin with anyway." _

"_It's too bad," Anna curled her fingers over Maddie's shoulder. "You'd probably be breaking so many people's hearts when you leave." _

_Maddie chuckled, abashed at the comment. "No, I wouldn't think—" she was suddenly cut off when Anna's lips descended down on hers, taking the time to sit on Maddie's lap. Anna's fingers began to stroke Maddie's dark hair, playing with the strands between her fingers. _

"_So pretty," Anna murmured against her lips. _

"_Uh, Anna?" Maddie wriggled out of the position, her lips detaching themselves from the other girl's as she left Anna sitting on the stool she had been sitting on. Anna looked up at her mischievously. "Anna, did I give you the wrong impression? Because if I did, I'm sorry. I'm not really gay." _

_Anna surprised Maddie by giggling. "You didn't give me the wrong impression. I knew you were straight the moment you walked into this place. I know a gay person when I see one." _

"_But—you—"_

"_I thought you tasted as good as you looked, so I wanted to test it out. It turns out I was right." _

Maddie had lost Chase and Katherine over her story, since they were so filled with hilarity at it.

"Stop laughing," Maddie commanded lightly.

"No way," Katherine sputtered, holding onto the bar counter for support as she laughed. Chase was in a similar position. He had tried to look sympathetic at first, but he had lost it and ended up like Katherine.

"Do you still keep in touch with Anna?" Chased asked, once the laughter died down.

Maddie nodded. "We exchange letters and give each other phone calls."

Katherine wiggled her eyebrows. "Does she still like you?"

"She's got a girlfriend now."

Maddie leaned back against the counter, ordering another glass of water. She liked the atmosphere now. Once she had revealed her seeming shocking story, she felt all the tense and the stress leave her. She yawned then, grabbing Katherine's hand to check the girl's watch. Ten past eleven. She widened her eyes at the time. She didn't realize it had flown by so fast. Sleepiness tugged against her hold. She relaxed in her seat, letting her eyes close for a little while. If she fell asleep, Katherine would have to carry her back to the dorms.

Three…

Two…

The sound of a shotgun rang out.

Maddie's body jerked to an awake position, almost falling out of her seat. She exchanged a worried glance with Katherine, but the other girl didn't know who caused that noise. She noticed the music had abruptly stopped, the chatter of the noisy place ceasing into a deadly silence. For some reason, she instantly looked at Caleb, who had been playing foosball with Pogue a while earlier. They were no longer laughing. Maddie followed the eldest Son's gaze, dismayed with dread when it led over to the pool tables.

Tyler was frozen in shock. He watched slowly as a blanket of red began to pool in front of Reid's shirt, right underneath and to the side of his abdomen. Reid's fingers clutched the side of the pool table, shock etched onto his own face as his administered the blood that flowed from him.

Maddie watched the whole ordeal, quickly bounding to her feet. It was ironic. That was what the whole thing was. Didn't she promise to Reid, to Tyler, to herself, that she would save Reid? Wasn't she supposed to be his Prince Charming as she often joked? She found that she did more killing rather than saving.

The blonde Son gasped before he stumbled.

* * *

A/N: Ooooh, cliffhanger... Don't worry, I didn't kill him. If I did, then there wouldn't be a story now, would it?

Reviews are appreciated! :)


	6. Scare Me

A/N: ...I'm really, truly sorry for the long update. There aren't any excuses for this. As you can tell, I'm still alive, but you should tie me to a stake and burn me. I haven't lost my reviewers, have I? I saw how many people reviewed and I had to stop being lazy and update already. Thank you so much for the reviews. I appreciate them! It's a little late, but Merry Christmas everyone! _  
_

* * *

Maddie quickly sprinting to his side, pushing away people as she went, not even bothering to apologize to them.

A cold rush of fear coursed through her veins as she landed on her knees, scraping them as she slid on the floor. She felt a tiny pinch of pain at that, but that was nothing compared to what was happening to Reid. The golden-eyed girl took one look at Reid, who held a hand to his bleeding abdomen, his pale fingers already being drenched with droplets of blood. She administered his sight of him before looking up at Tyler, her eyes demanding an answer.

"We were playing pool," Tyler whispered to her urgently, his eyes wide with panic, "and Reid won. One of the guys we were playing with took out a gun and shot Reid from behind."

"Who was the guy?" she asked.

The youngest Son shrugged, eyes strained on his injured friend. "I think his name was Mike or something—I don't know!" he added in frustration. He looked around wildly, staring at the crowd of people. "What are you all staring at? Fucking dial nine-one-one!" he bellowed at them, an anger not commonly seen on him usually.

His angry yell caused a couple of people to take out their phones and dial.

"C-calm down-n, B-Baby B-Boy…" Reid stammered, trying to ease the situation with a grin. But all he ended up succeeding with was a hard wince.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Tyler screamed, another string of curses running from his mouth.

"He's got every right to panic," Maddie muttered, willing herself to calm down for the sake of Tyler and Reid. She carefully cradled his blonde head in her hands before letting it drop gently to her lap. She didn't miss the sharp intake that had come form Reid. "Sorry."

Reid shook his head. "No p-problem…"

"The ambulance is coming soon," she reassured lightly, fingers stoking his cheek.

She felt someone drop by her side. "Who shot him?" demanded a firm voice.

The blonde Son tried to respond, but Maddie placed a finger against his lips. She turned to Caleb. "We don't know who exactly, but Tyler said it was some guy named Mike," she paused, feeling a soft, but shaky kiss being pressed at the tip of her finger. She looked down incredulously, considering the situation, her butterscotch eyes softening.

He was doing _that_ now?

Reid's response to her sad, questioning gaze was a low chuckle, which ended in a spasm of coughs. Blood landed at the corner of his lips, to which Maddie unhesitatingly wiped it away. She looked at Caleb—the oldest of the four Sons, their leader, and who also looked scared to death upon seeing Reid's state. Behind him, Pogue stood with his back to her, in an attempt to shoo the crowd away.

She leaned in closer to the eldest. "Can't he use to make him feel better?" she whispered.

"He can't. If he uses, he might do something wrong and kill himself."

"What about you?"

"I can, but the risk is too—"

"Reid's on the verge of dying, and all you're worried about is _risking exposure_?"

Caleb had never seen the golden-eyed girl angry before, but the image in front of him was scary enough to knock himself to his senses.

Here Reid was, coughing and bleeding to death and all Caleb could think about was how many people would see if his eyes would turn black in the consequence of saving his brother or not.

"You're right," Caleb looked at Maddie, as though seeing her in another light.

"No."

Both heads whipped down to the injured blonde boy in Maddie's lap. "No," Reid repeated, hand rose to his mouth to stifle another wave of coughs. "Don't w-worry about m-me, I can wa-ait."

"Reid," Maddie looked down at him hardly, "you're almost dying and the ambulance is taking way too long—"

"_No!" _That came out louder than Reid had intended it to be and his fingers latched onto her own. His bloodied fingers mixed with her porcelain white ones in a flurry. He squeezed her hand softly, as though he was the one reassuring her.

She felt like crying.

But she hadn't shed a tear since she was two.

Reid's breathing was getting slower and slower by each minute, and Maddie wondered why he was using his power to save himself. Did the boy want to die? Caleb looked stricken. Tyler had already gone outside to see if the paramedics were arriving here or not. Pogue was still attempted to disperse the crowd. Katherine had an open mouth, her eyes still wide at the events that were currently taking place. Nicky, for some reason, was holding a bat and she guessed the owner was gesturing everyone to get the hell out. And she, well…

She felt like one of those useless bystanders one would see in movies and on television, where the bystander would do absolutely nothing while something was happening. All a bystander was good at was really watching and whispering. A good bystander would at least call for help or try to break up whatever was going on. And when Reid closed his eyes for a while, she suddenly panicked at not being able to see his beautiful blue irises.

"Reid," she pinched gently at his arm, getting him to wake up. He didn't. "Come on, Reid, stay with me," she murmured quietly. She lightly tapped his cheek, her taps steadily turning into light smacks.

He didn't move. When his breath hitched, Maddie felt like crumbling.

"Caleb," she managed as she tried to wake Reid.

The eldest turned to crowd. Luckily, Nicky's bat and Pogue's glare was threatening enough to have them distance themselves a couple feet away from them. In a millisecond, Caleb's eyes were already turning coal black.

Tyler came bursting into the place. "They're here."

Caleb's eyes resumed to their normal color. Using his power, he had moved the bullet inside of Reid up to the blonde Son's surface, so that the doctors and the surgeons could remove the bullet without a hindrance. At least Reid wasn't in any potential risk of dying. He left most of the blood clotted there, so that there wouldn't be any leading suspicions as to where patient's blood had gone. He gave an extra dose of power to make sure Reid would be knocked out for the next twenty four hours or so.

When the paramedics came in carrying that stretcher of theirs, Maddie almost didn't want to let Reid go. She felt Caleb place a hand on her shoulder, and she unwillingly let the paramedics take the blonde away from her.

"Thanks," she said, watching the stretcher roll into the ambulance.

Caleb shook his head in response. "I should be thanking you. I shouldn't have been worrying about exposure when Reid's life was in danger," he then chuckled bitterly. "Some leader I am."

Maddie smiled. "Better to be too cautious than too incautious. You'll deal with fewer consequences that way."

The dark-eyed boy smiled back, arm latching around the small girl's frame. "Need a ride to the hospital?"

"Yeah," she replied. She heard a small sigh on her right side, and she turned curiously. "He's going to be alright, Tyler," she reassured Tyler, who wore a deep frown.

"I used on him," Caleb chirped.

Tyler widened his eyes at the eldest Son. "You _what_?"

"She's the one to blame," Caleb pointed over at Maddie. "She talked me into it."

Tyler knew Caleb Danvers. He had known the older boy since they were children. Caleb wouldn't use for anything unless it was serious, let alone use in a room full of people. The one time Pogue had received a giant scratch on his leg with blood oozing out and everything, Caleb, who had gotten his powers first, refused to use it.

Reduced to speechlessness, Tyler turned to Maddie. "Thank God you discovered us at that alleyway and came into our lives," he told her, without any hint of humor or sarcasm.

Maddie bit back a laugh. "Hey, Tyler?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you describe to me this 'Mike' guy?"

"Sure," Tyler's eyes furrowed in thought. "Well, I think I remember seeing him around Spenser. He's got brown hair and green eyes. I think he plays baseball," he suddenly snapped his fingers as his eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, that right! He's the team captain! Wait until I kill that son of a bitch," he added darkly.

Michael Shepherd?

A frown marred Maddie's pale face. "Not unless I kill him first."

* * *

Friday night had been a complete blur to Michael Shepherd.

One moment, he was there like every other teenager, hanging out at Nicky's. He had been admiring Maddie, still remembering her soft rejection to him like a sting. And then he noticed Garwin with some other blonde chick. Here Michael had thought the two of them were together, which was the only reason why he backed out of asking her out. He had a full mind to go over there and ask the pale girl to dance, but a boy had stopped him that night.

Michael didn't know how the conversation went with this unfamiliar boy, who he still couldn't remember, but the last thing he saw were eyes the color of the black night.

The next thing he knew, he challenged Reid Garwin and Tyler Simms to a game of pool. His anger at the blonde Son was already piqued, so his demeanor wouldn't let him refuse the bet he made against Garwin. He grew angrier and angrier when every shot Garwin made went in, and the blonde found himself winning. He had been so angry that his hand had shifted in his coat pocket, feeling something cool and hard before taking it out. Without realizing it, he had aimed for Garwin and pulled the trigger.

As Garwin fell, Michael watched in horror. No—he wasn't a murderer.

He didn't know why he challenged Garwin to a game of pool. Michael didn't even like pool, let alone was he actually good at it! He couldn't play a game for his life!

No, Michael was a good boy, or that's what he told himself. He would never carry a pistol in his pocket. The moment Garwin had fallen, he ran outside of Nicky's, his breathing labored at the events. He started at the gun as if it was an alienable object and he ran the pistol over and over again with his car.

Friday had been yesterday. Today was now Saturday—early baseball practice.

He was extra quiet today, as he hit the balls that raged over him with his bat. As he watched them sail over across the pitch, he mulled over his thoughts. He wondered how he got that pistol in the first place. Which led to his second thought on who the black-eyed guy was that had talked to him earlier. That guy must have slipped the gun into Michael's pocket.

"Shepherd!" a loud voice roused him from his thoughts. He turned to Coach Finnegan, the breath knocking out of him by surprise when he saw Maddie standing beside his baseball coach.

Bat in hand, the captain ran over to his coach and their guest. "Yes, Coach?" he asked, but his eyes were still on the golden-eyed girl, who smiled serenely at him.

"This lady says she needs to talk to you," Coach Finnegan muttered, tapping his pen against his clipboard. He grinned at Maddie. "Now, don't you keep him out too long."

"I promise it'll be quick," she smiled at the coach, blinking when he nodded and walked back to the pitch.

"You've won him over," Michael said in awe, eyes trained on her. "Coach never lets anyone interrupt practice."

"Really?"

"Yeah. This one time, he—" Michael was cut off when Maddie reached out and took the bat he had been holding.

In one fluid motion, the bat was twirling lazily in her hand. She peered up at Michael with a smile, and a second later, that pretty smile disappeared, replaced with darkened eyes and a thin frown. Michael was about to ask what was wrong, but he cried out when something connected with his ribs, nearly smashing them. His hand gripped the pain that was etched there, administering the pain before realizing Maddie had twirled the bat again, ready for another strike.

"Wait!" his hand shot out, palm facing her to stop her.

"Why should I?" she asked tonelessly, the bat swinging again. This time, the bat swung and hit the back of his knees, causing him to jump laboriously in the air before landing his back on the dirt-filled ground. The end of the bat connected roughly with his chest, pinning him to the ground.

For someone so small, Michael didn't know she could do that.

Maddie looked up at the sky, noticing how cloudy it was beginning to get. "Wonderful weather we're having," she observed, the bat digging deeper and deeper to him, ignoring his yelps.

"I know what this is about," he rasped.

"Do you?" she queried. "Alright, tell me."

He didn't know if she was kidding or not, but at the look she sent him, it had him talking. "I don't know why I shot him, okay? I was just mad—" he winced when the bat lifted to hit against him hardly.

"Why were you mad?"

"Because I saw you there with Katherine, and then I saw Garwin with some blonde girl hanging on his arm. I thought you guys had been together and to see you two like that—" he cried once more at another hit.

Her face was leveled with his in an instant. "How is that any of your business?"

He huffed. "Because I like you! And Garwin shouldn't be treating you that way! I had the right to ask you out and _he_ just happened to be there—"

Maddie rammed the bat into his side, letting him cringe before she threw the bat away.

"If you recalled, I rejected you _before_ Reid arrived, so you should have been mad at me, not him," she gritted her teeth, her face the epitome of anger. She grabbed the front of his baseball shirt, gripping it so that the neckline tightened around his neck, making it hard for him to breathe. "If there's a next time, and I'll assure you now that there won't be, you fire your damn gun at me, not Reid. Understand?"

When he struggled to answer, she realized she was choking him. Maddie let loose of his shirt, choosing to glare over at him instead. As Michael slowly nodded, she stood perched over him.

"I don't ever want to see your face again," she told him quietly. "If I do, you'll find this bat in places that'll give you a hard time sitting down once you remove it."

With that said, she left demurely, intending on hiding in the shadows that the school provided her with. Maddie had never been one for dramatic exits. As she left, she couldn't help but grin to herself. Coming today, beating the crap out of Michael, that was all chivalrous of her, wasn't it? It was almost as though she was _defending his honor_, like the true Prince Charming she was.

Reid was _so_ her damsel in distress.

So deep in her satisfied thoughts, she didn't notice the figure that was perched on Spenser's roof. His eyes had glinted with amusement when he had seen the way she had treated Shepherd with a bat. He turned to look back at the boy, who was still on the ground, probably crying to himself. The figure let out a low, cruel laugh escape from him.

It had been too easy confounding Shepherd.

And with Madeline Bennett in the midst of it all, it would make things even better.

Everything was turning out more perfectly than he had planned.

Meanwhile, at Gloucester Medical Hospital, Reid didn't cease to be himself, even when he just had a bullet taken out from him, and he was living on painkillers.

"Hi," he smiled in his charming sort of way as a middle-aged nurse bustled in. The nurse had blushed, reprimanding herself for blushing at the antics of a boy who was half her age, before placing his breakfast on the table. She left hurriedly, fighting another blush when he winked at her.

"Reid, she could be married for all we know."

Surely he was imagining that mother hen-like voice he knew all so well. That couldn't really be Caleb there. He was just hearing stuff in his mind. The blonde Son turned towards his first visitors. Of course, the rest of the Sons were there, looking over at him anxiously.

"Well, come in," he drawled lazily, eyeing his food with certain curiosity. "It's not like I'm dead or anything."

"But you were close," Tyler said, unfailing concern evident in his dark blue eyes as he gazed at Reid on the bed.

Reid was silent for a moment. He turned to Caleb. "You used on me, didn't you?"

Caleb nodded. "Yeah, I did."

"Why?" came Reid's bewildered response. "Are you stupid, Caleb? There were many people around—" he stopped when he noticed the eldest Son.

Caleb Danvers had been shaking his head to himself, a light smile donning his face. Never in his life did he think Reid Garwin would be reprimanding him one day. It all seemed too surreal. When his grin turned into a full on laugh, he was the subject of everyone's stares.

"Why the hell are you laughing?" Reid demanded eyebrows furrowing. He searched around the room. "Where's Maddie anyway?" Judging the way she held him last night—insert smirk—he would have thought she would be here to visit him too. He tried not to look too disappointed when he didn't see her around.

Pogue lifted an eyebrow. "Why? Do you want her? Oh, wait, we all know that answer to that…" he trailed off, chuckling along with Tyler and Caleb.

"Har har," Reid grumbled. "Now where is she?"

"She said she was visiting Shepherd," Tyler responded.

Shepherd. Michael Shepherd.

Reid almost had a heart attack when he heard that.

"Whoa, Reid, what are you doing?" Caleb asked, pulling Reid back. The blonde Son had bolted from his pillows, determined in getting the needles that were attached to his arm off. He swatted at Caleb's hands when the elder tried to stop him. "You're not supposed to be getting up until tomorrow."

"She'll be alright," Pogue reassured, assisting Caleb at pulling Reid back. "Why so worried?"

"Why'd you let her go?" Reid fumed as he glared at his brothers. "The bastard's got a fucking _gun!_ How do you think I ended up in this hospital?"

The only answer he got was three blank faces.

"You're all idiots," he muttered, falling back against the pillows since both Caleb and Pogue wouldn't let him up.

"She can handle herself," Tyler offered, smiling weakly at the blonde boy's stare. "Besides, I just got a call from her. She says she's on her way."

Reid continued to glare at the whole lot of them. He couldn't really get mad at Tyler, because the guy was Baby Boy and all, Tyler was too willing sometimes. He couldn't stop Maddie. Pogue was the more silent of all of them, being always so pensively thinking. He wouldn't notice if Maddie had gone. So, naturally, all his anger rested on Caleb, the sole person who was supposed to be responsible, supposed to be a leader, and supposed to look out for the welfare of others.

"Speaking of the devil…" Pogue trailed off, noticing a petite figure in the hallway.

On cue, Maddie strolled in, looking thoughtful since her eyes seemed to be glazed over. She smiled at everyone and even smiled wider upon seeing Reid's conscious state. Her smile was so bright, Reid even forgot why he was angry in the first place.

He was so whipped by a girl who—well, he wouldn't consider Maddie his girlfriend…_yet_.

Sure, they kissed a couple times. He's even taken care of her when she was sick. They had a funky relationship.

"We'll leave you two," Tyler smirked, winking at Reid before heading out, followed by Caleb and Pogue, who were chortling amongst themselves.

Once the door closed, Maddie walked to the edge of the bed, looking at him. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," he answered, lying back. "Damn painkillers."

She laughed, and when Reid scooted to the side of his bed and patted the seat next to him, Maddie couldn't help but crawl onto the bed with him. While he lied under the sheets, she stayed on top, so she guessed it was safe. They stayed quiet. Too quiet for too long. It was unnatural for the two of them to be staying that silent.

"I'm sorry," Maddie started, her fingers playing with the hospital sheets, "about the Michael stuff and everything. You shouldn't have gotten shot."

"Did you figure out why that fuckwit shot me?" Reid's tone was bitter.

"He was angry at you. I mean, Michael thought we were together, considering I rejected the date he asked me to go with, and since you popped up that day, he sort of put two and two together. And then he saw you this blonde girl and he just got mad."

Reid wanted to ask if she had been jealous upon mentioning the 'blonde girl', but her tone didn't sound envious at all. So she wasn't the type to get jealous so easily. Damn, was she so freaking perfect all the time?

And then he thought about that earlier that day on Friday. "I was a dick towards you. I'm sorry," he murmured and the words sounded so foreign to him, since he rarely ever apologized, unless it was to his mother. "I was jealous. Seeing the two of you talking."

She blinked. "Why?"

He shrugged casually, offering a lazy smile. "Dunno. Just was."

"Well, that doesn't bother me anymore," she lied back against the pillows, her arm grazing his side. "Well, I took care of him for you."

"What'd you do?"

"I used his bat."

He guffawed, immediately feeling better on the painkillers. "Good job, Bennett."

"Thanks," she grinned. Her face lessened as she sobered. "Just don't scare me like that again," she commanded, her mind still filled with thoughts of a bloody Reid in her arms.

He snorted. "Speak for yourself."

"What do you mean?" she asked as her head whipped to face him.

For someone so smart, how could she not figure it out already?

"When the guys told me you went to find Shepherd, you don't know how worried I was," he told her, his bright cerulean eyes narrowing at her. "I almost jumped out of bed and considered dragging you back here."

"I told you I took care of him already. You didn't have to worry," she replied, her head tilted to the side—which he thought was a cute trait of hers.

"You don't get it," he sighed, hand gripping his blonde hair. "You know that blonde girl that was hanging around me last night? A couple hours in, I took her to that alleyway and I kissed her—"

"I don't think I want to know about it, Reid," Maddie cut in, staring at the dots on the ceiling.

He gripped her chin and forced her to look at him. "Just listen," he said, waiting for her to nod hesitantly before continuing his story. "So when I kissed her, I couldn't help but think how wrong it was. Usually, I love that shiny thing you girls put on your lips—"

"Lip gloss," she supplied.

"Yeah, that. I usually like the ones that taste like cherry. And this blonde girl had cherry lip gloss on, but it tasted disgusting. And she reeked of perfume. I mean, it was too much. When I touched her hair, it was all dry and didn't feel soft at all. She's got amazingly huge tits and a small waist, and these big brown eyes. And she had make-up on," he stopped his rant, pausing to look over at her face. "Do you get me?"

Maddie's chin was on her hand, listening very intently to what he had been saying. "Okay, if you didn't like girls who wore cherry lip gloss, wore too much perfume, had bleached hair, and pretty much had a non-authentic body, why'd you hang out with her last night?"

_Someone please shoot me again,_ Reid pleaded in his mind. He never thought how hard this was be. Was she really that oblivious? Did he have to spell it out for her?

Instead, his long arms went around her, engulfing her in his circle. Once he trapped her, he pulled her closer to him until she was practically lying on top of him. Reid contemplated the widened look in her eyes, but he leaned in and finally touched her lips with his in the softest of kisses. His mouth felt like a gentle caress against hers. It was so soft, creating a blitheful passion of it's own between their joined mouths. He ran his tongue over her lips, and before she could open her mouth, he had already pulled away. Her eyes resumed thoughtful again, as Reid reached up and tucked a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear.

"You know, _that_ should have been our first kiss," his breath grazed her ear before a kiss was pressed along her jaw.

"So, that girl—" Maddie paused at her words, not knowing if she was right or not, "—was only there to make me jealous?"

_Finally. _

Reid nodded then, unable to fight the grin off his face. "When I kissed her, I only thought about you. "You," he kissed her wrist, "You," he kissed her shoulder, "You," he kissed her neck, "You," he kissed her chin, "You," he kissed the shell of her ear, "You," he kissed her cheek, "You," he kissed her nose, _"You,"_ he finally placed a light, teasing kiss to her lips.

"Oh," she suddenly smiled bashfully. "Why didn't you say so?"

He rolled his eyes. "Gee, why didn't I think of that?"

Maddie leaned in, brushing her nose against his. "You should know that I don't get jealous easily."

"You don't get jealous at all," he corrected, pointing it out for her. "But I still had to try."

"Wait," she watched as Reid laced their hands together, fingers delicately entwining. "This does mean we're together, right? That you're mine, and that I don't intend on sharing you with any other girl?"

He knew there was more threat to her innocent tone. "So possessive—that's hot," he stated. "But, yes, that does mean we're together. And you can't blame me for beating the fuck out of all those guys that stare at you. It would be perfectly understandable as to why I'm obligated to protect what belongs to _me_."

"What about going on dates?"

"You mean going to expensive restaurants and letting me ravish you afterwards?" he grinned in that trademark cocky manner of his. "Why not?"

"No," she chuckled, resting her chin on his chest. "It doesn't have to be fancy. We could go take walks in the park or go see a movie—something like that."

He leaned and kissed her again. "If you want it."

"Okay." A determined expression crossed her face as he waited. "Reid Garwin, will you go out with me?"

"Hey, that's not fair," he immediately protested. "_I'm_ supposed to ask you."

"We've already established that we're a couple, so it really doesn't matter who asks who."

Reid sputtered. "But—but, I'm the boy. It's practically traditionally for the boy to ask the girl."

"That's old-fashioned, Reid, but maybe for you, it's tradition." This time, she was the one that initiated the kiss as she leaned down. Her tongue winded around his, adding more pressure to his bottom lip as she did so. With another peck, she smiled sweetly at him. "Besides, in this relationship, _I'm_ Prince Charming, and _you're_ the damsel in distress."

Just as she and Tyler had bet on, Reid's staggered expression was priceless.


End file.
